The Polk County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies arrested 160 people in a seven-day human trafficking operation in Florida.
The week-long sting, called “Operation Fall Haul II,” led to the arrest of a top cop from Georgia and a Disney employee.
“Deputies said the arrests from “Fall Haul 2” included school teachers, a state corrections officer, and a Disney employee. Twenty-six of those charged were said to be married men, and 15 of the arrests involved people from outside of Florida,” The Hill reported.
"Operation Fall Haul 2" lasted one week, and investigators tracked down 16 suspects in Polk County. The sheriff's office said two victims of sex trafficking were also found and their may be more. https://t.co/kIYPTmfwuo
— FOX 13 Tampa Bay (@FOX13News) September 10, 2022
From The Hill:
One of these out-of-state arrests included a deputy police chief from Georgia, Jason DiPrima, who allegedly tried to hire an undercover detective pretending to be a prostitute with $180 and a pack of White Claw. During a Friday press conference, Sheriff Grady Judd said DiPrima has since resigned from his position with the Cartersville Police Department.
DiPrima wasn’t the only government employee to be arrested. A corrections officer with Lake Correctional Institution, 24-year-old Keith Nieves, of Orlando, was also arrested after trying to have sex with a prostitute who turned out to be an undercover detective, according to the sheriff’s office.
“He’s in the jail as a jail bird like the jail birds he watches,” the sheriff said.
Another suspect, 43-year-old Cameron Burke, of Ocoee, was already out on bond after being accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student at Oak Ridge High School in Orange County. He worked at the high school as a computer technician at the time of the alleged crime.
Judd commented that it wouldn’t be an undercover operation without at least one Disney employee being arrested as well.
Cont. from The Hill:
Disney bellhop Guillermo Perez, 57, of Winter Garden, was arrested after trying to have sex with an undercover detective for $80, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office also arrested Samy Claude, 26, of Orlando, who works as a photographer and was often contracted by Disney. Deputies said Claude brought a bag of sour Skittles for the undercover detective.
The New York Post added:
Investigators discovered at least two sex trafficking victims during the operation, and there could potentially be more, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.
“Our goal is to start services the moment that they are taken into custody and to treat them as what they are, victims, not as suspects in a criminal event,” Judd said at a press conference.
Watch the press conference HERE:
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