49-Year-Old Man Surrenders In Operation Naughty Not Nice

LAKELAND, FL — A 49-year-0ld man has surrendered to police after being named as a suspect by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd in a six-day human trafficking investigation. William Welch becomes the 104th person arrested during Operation Naughty — Not Nice 2018.

Welch attempted to arrange a meeting with a 14-year-old girl to have sex, but instead was communicating with undercover detectives, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. He allegedly traveled to the meeting place but did not make contact there. Detectives recovered his car at the scene.

Subscribe to Lakeland Patch for our free morning newsletter and regular news alerts

"This is a man who posed a great danger to the public, particularly children. It was his intention to meet a child to fulfill his sick fantasies," Judd said in announcing the investigation on Monday. "He came to the neighborhood, but he was suspicious, so he started looking around and left in the dark of night without his car." See also Polk County Trafficking Investigation Nets 103

Welch later turned himself into deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Office under a Polk County warrant.

He has been charged with traveling to meet a minor, using a computer to seduce, solicit, lure a child, use of a two-way communication device to commit felony and attempted lewd battery.

Among those arrested in the investigation was a man attending his brother-in-law's funeral, a Navy recruiter and a physician who works at an Orlando veterans hospital. The doctor was still wearing hospital scrubs at the time of his arrest.

"My prescription to him is don't do this anymore. Take two aspirin. Hold them between your knees and behave," Judd said on Monday. "I didn't have to go to medical school to figure that out."

The investigation began on Nov.27 and concluded on Sunday. Undercover detectives targeted prostitutes posting online advertisements as well as their clients seeking female prostitutes online.

During the operation, undercover detectives posted fictitious ads or profiles on various social media platforms, websites, and mobile phone applications, posing as prostitutes or those soliciting prostitutes. Some detectives responded to profiles and online ads posted by prostitutes.

Photo of Wiliam Welch courtesy Polk County Sheriff's Office