POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference on Friday morning to discuss a week-long undercover investigation that yielded nearly 250 arrests.
Judd said that the seven-day investigation, dubbed “Fool Around and Find Out — Again," focused on human trafficking, child predators and illegal immigration.
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“The online prostitution industry enables and empowers human traffickers, allowing them to profit off the people they exploit,” Judd said in a statement. “Our goal is to identify victims, offer them help, and arrest those who are fueling the exploitation of human beings (Johns) and those profiting from the exploitation of human beings. Prostitution is not a victimless crime – it results in human exploitation, misery, disease, dysfunction, drug and alcohol addiction, violence, and broken families."
Ten possible victims of human trafficking were identified during the investigation and were offered services by One More Child and My Name My Voice, according to the sheriff’s office.
Per a sheriff’s office release, detectives worked alongside several other law enforcement agencies to charge 246 suspects in total. Of those:
- 99 suspects arrested for allegedly soliciting prostitutes, including an Orange County deputy recruit
- 111 suspects charged with offering to commit prostitution
- 20 other suspects charged with crimes related to prostitution, such as aiding, abetting or transporting
- 46 of the suspects in the country illegally, from the Bahamas, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela
- 15 suspects accused of traveling to meet a minor for sex or other child-sex-related crimes
Those 15 child-sex-related crime suspects were identified as follows:
- Alberto Gonzalez Torres, 48, of St. Cloud
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Use of computer to seduce a child
- Transmission of material harmful to a minor
- Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor
- Knowingly driving with suspended license
- Louie Macalinao, 62, of Davenport
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Use of computer to seduce a child
- Resisting arrest
- Anthony Ramos, Jr., 33, of Winter Haven
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Use of computer to seduce a child
- Allowing child to engage in sex
- Cameron Francis, 30, of Clearwater
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Use of computer to seduce a child
- Two counts transmission of material harmful to minor
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Hugo Dos Santos, 39, of Kissimmee
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Use of computer to seduce a child
- Transmission of material harmful to minor
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Jamal Jones, 30, of Osceola
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Use of computer to seduce a child
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Alier Aponte Rosa, 51, of Kissimmee
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Use of computer to seduce a child
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Battery on LEO
- Resisting arrest with violence
- Resisting arrest without violence
- Trey Taunton, 40, of Minneola
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Use of computer to seduce a child
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Misrepresenting age
- Bharat Baichan, 33, of Davenport
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Misrepresenting age
- Daniel Napoline, 42, of Clermont
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Spencer Englehardt, 26, of Minneola
- Human trafficking
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Misrepresenting age
- Detraun Vaughan, 23, of Kissimmee
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Possession of cocaine
- Possession of marijuana over 20 grams
- Possession of paraphernalia
- Christopher Williams, 31, of Orlando
- Human trafficking
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of computer to solicit guardian
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Escape
- Resisting arrest
- Jerry Siniard, 50, of Orlando
- Human trafficking
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Use of computer to solicit guardian
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
- Attempted lewd/lascivious conduct by person over 18
- Possession of meth with intent to sell
- Robert Vincent Hill III, 56, of Lake Placid
- Use of computer to solicit guardian
- Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony
One man — Kyle Mullen, 36, of Jacksonville — is wanted, the sheriff’s office said. Mullen is accused of soliciting a detective who was posing at a 12-year-old girl online, sending them a nude photo, according to the release. There’s a warrant for Mullen’s arrest over transmission of material harmful to a minor and the use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony, the release states.
Judd also took some time to describe the arrest of Jabez Lowe, 24, a recently-hired and since-fired deputy recruit of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office accused of offering to solicit prostitution.
“What’s interesting about Jabez is he was a member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. He was a recruit and in the academy. Now, he didn’t tell us that, so he lied to us during the investigation. I can’t imagine why he didn’t want to tell us that he was a recruit for Orange County Sheriff’s Office, but you know what? Orange County Sheriff’s Office came here and fired him really quick. I believe it’s safe to say that his law enforcement career was over before it began, and he didn’t get it,” Judd said.
Judd was joined for the news conference by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and CFO Blaise Ingoglia, alongside other law enforcement officials.
Read about the cases and see mugshots on the sheriff’s office’s website.
Watch Friday’s news conference again in the video player below or by clicking here: