Jacksonville, Florida: a 38-year-old father was arrested at work in May 2025 and charged with soliciting a child after sheriff's investigators identified him, he says with facial-recognition tools, from photos an impostor had sent to an undercover officer; charges were dropped in August 2025 after the real sender confessed, and the family says the ordeal cost $45,000

The Florida Trib investigation by Kate Payne (28 September 2026; republished by the Florida Phoenix) is based on court records, police reports and interviews with the man and his wife. On 14 May 2025, according to court records, a man logged on to the Skout dating app and messaged an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl during Operation Rescue Our Children, sending two photos of a dark-haired man that did not match his own profile picture. Investigators ran a search on the photos, which led them to 'Nick', who was arrested six days after the online conversation ended. Nick recalls investigators telling him they relied on facial-recognition tools to identify him; the Trib found no indication in the court documents of any other investigative work before the arrest beyond verifying that he was the person in the photos, and no evidence that investigators sought phone data or account information first. He was handcuffed at work in front of customers and co-workers and charged with soliciting a child via computer and unlawful use of a two-way communications device (third-degree felonies). In interrogation he pointed out that the account's profile photo showed a former friend who had been arrested for the same offence years earlier. He spent a night in jail, was bailed out by his wife, wore a court-ordered ankle monitor at $105 a week, was barred from any contact with his two children (the younger seven months old) for a month and a half and lived with his mother-in-law for nearly three months; he was suspended from his job and the couple could not pay rent. The day after the arrest investigators subpoenaed the account information, which showed it belonged to the former friend. That man confessed on 31 July 2025 that he had used photos of former friends because they were better looking than him; prosecutors dropped the charges against Nick the next day, and a judge ordered the case expunged on 4 August 2025. The records, including his home address and phone number, stayed on the Duval County Clerk of Courts website for more than a year. The family puts the cost at $45,000 in lost wages and legal fees; his wife says their older daughter still becomes anxious when he is late. A George Washington University law professor who reviewed the records at the Trib's request called it a bad policing story, not a bad technology story. The sheriff's office did not respond; Sheriff T.K. Waters has previously said a facial-recognition hit alone is not probable cause.

The man was arrested, jailed overnight, charged with child-sex offences, monitored and separated from his children for weeks; he and his wife told The Florida Trib the ordeal cost $45,000 in lost wages and legal fees and traumatised their children.

Prosecutors dropped the charges on 1 August 2025, and on 4 August 2025 a judge ordered the case expunged because the arrest was made 'contrary to law or by mistake'; the Duval County Clerk of Courts left the records publicly available for more than a year, removing them only after The Florida Trib asked. The actual sender pleaded guilty in 2026 and was sentenced to 40 months in prison. The couple were told the lead detective was placed on administrative leave pending termination; the Trib found she had applied for a deferred retirement programme. No lawsuit is reported; the sheriff's office did not respond to questions.