More than a hundred people were arrested in Florida during a six-day undercover operation aimed at finding human trafficking.
“Operation March Sadness 2” began on March 8 and led to the arrests of one charged with human trafficking, four accused of being child predators, and dozens accused of prostitution, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office
“The arrests of a human trafficker and four child predators alone makes this whole operation worthwhile. The online prostitution industry enables traffickers and victimizes those who are being trafficked,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news release. “Our goal is to identify victims, offer them help, and find and arrest those who are profiting from the exploitation of human beings.”
Four of the suspects arrested were Disney employees, Judd said in a March 16 news conference.
One of them is Xavier Jackson, from Kissimmee, authorities said. Jackson was accused of communicating online with an undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl. Authorities said he sent sexual images and graphic descriptions of “what he wanted to do.”
Sheriff Judd said Jackson was employed as a lifeguard at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and was “bragging” about it.
“You think there’s a few children around there?” Judd said during the news conference. “That’s right. I didn’t stutter.”
The sheriff mentioned three other suspects arrested who were also Disney employees, who were each accused of soliciting.
One of them was a 45-year-old man, from Winter Garden, who worked in an IT position for the company for four years, Judd said.
“I am sure Disney isn’t pleased, I bet his wife isn’t pleased,” Judd said, “But we’re pleased that we arrested him.”
The employees have all been placed on unpaid leave, a Walt Disney Company spokesperson told McClatchy News on March 16.
Among the other people arrested was also a former Illinois judge, Daniel Peters, 66, who Judd said attempted to hire an escort online.
“He requested an attorney. Well judge, you need an attorney, you got problems,” Judd said during the conference.
Detectives said they started to investigate sex workers who posted online advertisements as well as the “Johns” who were seeking them out in an attempt to identify and free “any victims who were being forced into prostitution.”
Authorities ended up charging 108 people: one woman charged with human trafficking; four men accused of being child predators; 26 people offering sex work; 75 people soliciting sex; and two unrelated charges.
In addition to the sheriff’s office, police departments from Winter Haven, Haines City, Lake Wales, and Auburndale, as well as the Office of the State Attorney 10th Judicial Court, members from the Florida Department of Children and Families, and anti-human trafficking organizations all collaborated on this operation.
“I am eternally grateful for our police chiefs because we wouldn’t be able to do this unless we all work together,” Judd said.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call 911.
To report potential trafficking situations, you can contact the national hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or chat with the online hotline.
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