“Our children are this community's most precious resource. We must do everything we can to protect them,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement.

LAKELAND — A joint investigation by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Corrections and the State Attorney’s Office in Bartow has resulted in 42 arrests on child pornography and related charges.

The Sheriff’s Office announced the investigation and arrests in a late Tuesday press statement. Sheriff Grady Judd has scheduled a press conference at 10:30 a.m. today at the office’s Winter Haven headquarters.

The investigation began in January and involved three sheriff’s office divisions — Computer Crimes, the Special Victims Response Team and the Vice Unit, according to the statement. They worked with Corrections Department Office of Probation and Parole and State Attorney Brian Haas’ office.

It was described as “an undercover investigation focusing on those who prey on children.”

After obtaining search warrants, detectives arrested 18 suspects who engaged in the promotion, possession and distribution of child pornography, the statement said. That included one woman.

Investigators are looking for an additional person on an arrest warrant for possession of child pornography.

After conducting compliance checks on sex offenders, predators and people on probation for sex offenses, officers arrested 21 suspects on charges of failure to register violations, failure to comply with residency and registration requirements and violation of probation.

Most of the charges against the 21 people relate to the suspects not registering all Internet identifiers, such as social media accounts, applications and electronic mail addresses, which must be registered prior to use.

There were three other arrests on unspecified charges not related to child-sex crimes.

“Our children are this community’s most precious resource. We must do everything we can to protect them,” Judd said in the statement. “During operations such as this one, we proactively look for suspects who prey upon children, either through the collection and distribution of child pornography or through their non-compliance with sexual predator and offender registration rules, including their evasive efforts to gain access to children through the Internet and social media.”

Judd praised the detectives as “guardians who protect the innocent.”

The 42 arrests and outstanding warrant issued involve 892 new criminal charges, 216 previous felony charges and 145 previous misdemeanors, the statement said.

— Kevin Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com or at 863-401-6980.