{"id":20991,"date":"2022-03-16T20:39:24","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T00:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=20991"},"modified":"2022-03-16T20:39:29","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T00:39:29","slug":"4-disney-employees-were-arrested-in-polk-county-in-a-human-trafficking-campaign-pcso-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2022\/03\/16\/4-disney-employees-were-arrested-in-polk-county-in-a-human-trafficking-campaign-pcso-says\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Disney employees were arrested in Polk County in a human trafficking campaign, PCSO says."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over 100 people were arrested by the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office during \u201cOperation March Sadness 2,\u201d a six-day undercover investigation that focused on human trafficking, prostitution, and child predators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=314&#038;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpolkcountysheriff%2Fvideos%2F3108034486113792%2F&#038;show_text=false&#038;width=560&#038;t=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowFullScreen=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the sheriff\u2019s office, four Disney employees were among the 108 arrests, including a Kissimmee man who worked as a lifeguard at Disney\u2019s Polynesian Village Resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deputies said Xavier Jackson, 27, who worked as a lifeguard at the resort, sent sexual images and graphic descriptions of \u201cwhat he wanted to do\u201d to an undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl. Deputies said Jackson also bragged about working as a lifeguard at the resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/march-sadness-2-poster-small.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20992\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/march-sadness-2-poster-small-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/march-sadness-2-poster-small-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/march-sadness-2-poster-small-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/march-sadness-2-poster-small-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/march-sadness-2-poster-small-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/march-sadness-2-poster-small-scaled.jpg?w=2220&amp;ssl=1 2220w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three other Disney employees were arrested during the operation, including a 24-year-old Orlando man who worked at the Cosmic Restaurant. Deputies said the man worked at Disney for four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is huge,\u201d Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. \u201cFour arrests of this magnitude is simply remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sheriff Judd also added 66-year-old Daniel Peters, of Illinois, to the list of arrests mentioned during a Wednesday morning press conference. Judd said Peters served as a judge in Cook County (4th Sub Circuit) and as a special assistant for legal affairs at the Cook County Sheriff\u2019s Office in Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deputies said Peters requested an attorney, to which Sheriff Judd replied, \u201cWell judge, you need an attorney. You got problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peters was charged with soliciting a prostitute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Polk County detectives said they identified prostitutes who posted online advertisements as well as \u201cjohns\u201d who sought the prostitutes online. The sheriff\u2019s office said the operation \u201chad the intent to identify and free any victims who were being forced into prostitution (human trafficking), or anyone participating in the trafficking of victims.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the 108 arrests made, there were several which stood out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Human Trafficking Suspect:<\/strong><br><strong>32-year old Tiffany Nash of Orlando<\/strong>&nbsp;was arrested for trafficking another woman in prostitution. The woman, an adult female, arrived at the residence as a prostitute, but an investigation revealed that Nash repeatedly threatened violence against the victim if she didn\u2019t prostitute herself. Nash would take all money derived from the victim\u2019s prostitution. When Nash arrived at the location to check on the victim, she was taken into custody and charged with: Human Trafficking (F1), Deriving Proceeds from Prostitution (F2), Possession of Cocaine (F3), Possession of Methamphetamine (F3), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nash\u2019s victim was provided the assistance of one of the anti-trafficking organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Child Predators:<\/strong><br><strong>39-year old Timothy Finley of Mulberry<\/strong>&nbsp;began communicating online with an undercover detective, thinking he was chatting with a 13-year old female. Finley traveled to the residence with the intent for sexual conduct with her. He was arrested and charged with: Travel to Meet a Minor\/Using Computer to Lure (F2), Attempted Lewd Battery (F3), Transmit Material Harmful to Minor (F3), Possession of Methamphetamine (F3), Resisting (M1), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>41-year old Shannon Johnson of Orlando<\/strong>&nbsp;believed he was chatting online with a 13-year old female, sent a nude photo, and then travelled to the residence with the intent for sexual conduct with her. He was arrested and charged with: Travel to Meet a Minor\/Using Computer to Lure (F2), Attempted Lewd Battery (F3), and Transmit Material Harmful to Minor (F3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>36-year old Jody Rose of Gainesville<\/strong>&nbsp;communicated online and via text with an undercover detective posing as a 13-year old girl. Rose sent sexual images and graphic descriptions of what he wanted to do. A warrant was obtained on Rose for Transmission of Material Harmful to a Minor (10-counts, F3) and Unlawful Use of 2-Way Communication Device (F3), and he was arrested in Alachua County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>27-year old Xavier Jackson of Kissimmee<\/strong>&nbsp;communicated online and via text with an undercover detective posing as a 14-year old girl. During the communication, Jackson sent sexual images and graphic descriptions of what he wanted to do. A warrant was obtained for Jackson for Transmission of Material Harmful to a Minor (3-counts, F3) and Unlawful Use of 2-Way Communication Device (F3).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Other notables\u2026<\/strong><br><strong>49-year old Seth Phillips of Bradenton<\/strong>&nbsp;arrived with a woman, 34-year old Christina Garite, with the intent of both committing prostitution with two undercover detectives. When a detective tried to cancel the meet-up due to a scheduling conflict, Phillips became angry, and made demands that the undercover detectives would have to give him money for the appointment and for the drugs he was going to sell them. Phillips showed up at the residence, and when detectives opened the door, he pointed a gun at them. Phillips was arrested and charged with: Attempted Armed Robbery with Firearm (F2), Extortion\/Threats (F2), Possession of Meth with Intent to Sell (F2), Aggravated Assault with Deadly Weapon (4-counts, F3), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1), Offering to Commit Prostitution (M2).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>42-year old James Compton of Kissimmee<\/strong>&nbsp;told detectives that he is married with eight children, and had left one of his children at a soccer game taking place nearby in order to meet with a prostitute. He was arrested and charged with soliciting a prostitute. Compton was charged with Soliciting a Prostitute (M1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>66-year old Daniel Peters of Palos Hills, Illinois<\/strong>&nbsp;told detectives that he is a retired judge (Cook County 4th Sub Circuit) and a Special Assistant for Legal Affairs at the Cook County Sheriff\u2019s Office in Illinois. He was charged with Soliciting a Prostitute (M1).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over 100 people were arrested by the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office during \u201cOperation March Sadness 2,\u201d a six-day undercover investigation that focused on human trafficking, prostitution, and child predators. According&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[2561,2562],"class_list":["post-20991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-4-disney-employees-were-arrested-in-polk-county-in-a-human-trafficking-campaign","tag-pcso-says"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}