Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said a seven-day undercover operation targeting human trafficking and child predation led to 281 arrests and the identification of 11 human trafficking victims.
Inside the operation
Judd described the effort—“Operation Polk Around and Find Out II”—as a joint push combining a regular human trafficking operation with a child sex predator operation. Announcing the figures alongside Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Judd said 239 men were arrested for soliciting prostitution, 31 were arrested in the child sex predator portion, and 11 others were also arrested.
According to Judd, the 281 people arrested had a combined 798 prior criminal charges and face 488 new charges from the sting.
Sheriff: 17 theme park employees were arrested
Judd said 17 theme park employees were among those arrested—13 who worked at Disney and four at Universal Studios. “These are people that were face-to-face with our children in the different disciplines inside these two organizations,” Judd said. “Well, that’s where the children are, and they want to be near children.”
Guns and other details Judd cited
Addressing criticism that soliciting prostitution is a “harmless” crime, Judd said, “Twenty-four of the suspects brought firearms.” He also said, “Twenty-two of them admitted to us that they were on federal assistance.”
The Western Journal’s report also said 32 of those arrested were “illegal aliens,” and that an Orange County sheriff’s deputy was among those arrested for allegedly soliciting a prostitute. A social media post cited in the report named the deputy as Eric Raymond; DailyHeadlines.net has not independently verified that identity.
Alleged child-predator cases the sheriff highlighted
Judd labeled one arrest “the worst of the worst,” identifying the suspect as Rashawn Crayton, 31, described by the sheriff as a youth football head coach for the Davenport Titans in the Mid-Florida Youth Conference of Football and Cheer. “So guess who he showed up to have sex with? A 14-year-old little girl,” Judd said. Orlando’s WKMG-TV reported that when Crayton arrived, he had a battery-charged sex toy in his possession.
Judd also pointed to the arrest of Dang Thai, described by the sheriff as an active-duty Navy machinist’s mate from Jacksonville who posed online as a 17-year-old. After his arrest, “He did brag to us…that he’s got a top-secret clearance,” Judd said.
All arrests described above are allegations; outcomes will be determined in court.
