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28 Men Arrested In Online Child-Sex Sting

WKMG TV Employee, Apparent Disney Workers Arrested, Police Say

POSTED: Monday, April 2, 2007
UPDATED: 2:22 pm EDT April 2, 2007

Twenty-eight men were arrested on charges they solicited sex from a minor after a weeklong undercover sting, authorities said.
Photos: Mug Shots

Investigators said the men went to Polk County thinking they were going to have sex with a child but were instead met by police officers.

One of the men arrested was WKMG-TV employee Christian Rodriguez-Torres.

Torres is a production technician and as soon as station management was informed of his arrest, Torres was asked to leave the building and was suspended.

WKMG-TV General Manager Henry Maldonado said, "These charges are severe and we are shocked that one of our employees was involved. The employee was suspended. Local 6, of course will aggressively report on the arrests and continuing investigation."

Sheriff's office spokeswoman Donna Wood said a number of agencies worked together to set up the sting at a Polk County home where the men were arrested.

"Using undercover officers, the suspects chatted online with (people) whom they believed to be boy and girls, ages 13 and 14," Wood said.

Three of the men arrested in the sting told authorities they were Disney employees: Julio Segundo, 21, of Orlando; Richard Gaugh, 55, of Ormond Beach; and Thierry Ferron, 43, of Winter Garden. All three have been charged with soliciting a minor via the Internet and attempted lewd battery.

Ferron also was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and receiving computer statements for the purpose of sexual conduct with a child, according to the report.

Gaugh remained in jail on a $100,000 bond. Segundo and Ferron were each being held on a $60,000 bond. It was not known if any of the men had attorneys.

"We take allegations of this nature seriously," Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said in an e-mail. "When we receive confirmation of these allegations, we will take appropriate action."

"I don't know any other way to say this; we will not tolerate anyone preying on our children," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "We will not allow these criminals' behaviors to escalate to kidnapping or murder."

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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