Polk County Trafficking Investigation Nets 103

LAKELAND, FL — More than 100 people have been arrested in a six-day human trafficking investigation in Polk County. Sheriff Grady Judd briefed reporters on Monday afternoon regarding Operation Naughty Not Nice 2018.

"Our focus is to find victims of human trafficking. During this operation we made 103 arrests," said Judd. "One of the arrests that we made .... was of a person who came to have sex with a child."

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Judd said one person is still at large. "He was a child sexual predator and thought he was coming to have sex with a child," according to the sheriff.

Among those arrested 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," said Judd. "I didn't have to go to medical school to figure that out."

Judd said some of those charged had never been arrested and nine were married. Three of the suspects were in the U.S. illegally, according to the sheriff. One 17-year-old runaway girl from Virginia was rescued from a man who brought her to work as a prostitute.

"It was a tough operation," Judd said, noting that the FBI recently shut down Backpage.com, a website that was popular among prostitutes. As a result, Judd said, "the prostitutes have scattered to other social medias."

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.

In all, 103 suspects have been arrested. Fifty-six of the arrests were for those who advertise as prostitutes online. Thirty of the arrests involved people who solicited undercover detectives who posted ads posing as prostitutes.

Eleven other arrests were made of those who derive proceeds from prostitution and six were taken into custody for drug charges and other offenses.

"They all got to go to jail this year before they heard 'Jingle Bills,' Judd added. He said that the county jail serves pressed turkey on Christmas if any of the suspects are still there for the holiday.

Charges include soliciting another for prostitution, deriving support from proceeds of prostitution, transporting to building for prostitution and using a communication device to commit a felony. Detectives worked closely with the One More Child organization as well as the Department of Children and Families.

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 of the detectives responded to profiles and online ads posted by prostitutes.

Despite the repeated warnings and media coverage of past operations, several suspects responded to the ads and drove to the undisclosed undercover location.

Photo of Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd courtesy Polk County Sheriff's Office