{"id":51541,"date":"2024-11-02T14:50:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T18:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=51541"},"modified":"2024-11-02T14:51:03","modified_gmt":"2024-11-02T18:51:03","slug":"13-sex-offenders-arrested-during-october-halloween-investigative-sweep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2024\/11\/02\/13-sex-offenders-arrested-during-october-halloween-investigative-sweep\/","title":{"rendered":"13 Sex offenders arrested during October \/ Halloween investigative sweep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office deputies and the Florida Department of Corrections probation officers conducted a Halloween sexual offender\/predator compliance initiative on during the month of October 2024. The operation was aimed at ensuring compliance with Florida’s registration laws for convicted sex offenders and sex predators (FSS 775.21 & FSS 943.0435) within Polk County.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Operational Information
<\/strong>There are 1,443 Sexual Offenders, 159 of which are sexual predators, registered in Polk County. These offenders and predators are checked every quarter by the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office to ensure they are in compliance with Florida\u2019s sexual offender\/predator registration laws. The state requires checks at least once a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am proud of our deputies and probation officers for their hard work to ensure that these sex offenders and predators are complying with their court-mandated registrations and requirements. This is time consuming, but absolutely necessary. Our simple message is this, if you\u2019ve been placed on the sex offender\/predator registry, we will keep track of you, and we will hold you accountable for any violations, period.\u201d<\/em>\u2013 Grady Judd, Sheriff<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sexual offenders\/predators on probation are supervised by the Department of Corrections, and their probation stipulates they are prohibited from engaging in Halloween activities such as having contact with children, distributing candy\/treats, or having Halloween decorations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 160 offenders\/predators were contacted and checked during this initiative. 13 total arrests were made. One warrant was issued. 45 searches were completed, resulting in five offenders being arrested for possessing unauthorized cellphones with internet access and\/or social media accounts. These cellphones have been seized and are currently being examined for unregistered social media accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warrant<\/strong>
The Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office has issued a warrant for the arrest of\u00a0Daniel Soto (1\/27\/1984)<\/strong>. On July 31, 2024, Soto was arrested on drug charges while driving a vehicle. PCSO detectives were notified of his arrest, and they found Soto failed to register the vehicle he was arrested in, and a Facebook profile as required by law, and that he provided false information during a sexual offender registration.\u00a0He was convicted in 2009 of sexual abuse of a minor under 14 years<\/em> old in Monroe County, New York.\u00a0

Soto bonded out of the Polk County Jail on July 31, 2024, after his drug arrest. We are actively searching for this suspect and encourage anyone with any information to contact the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office, or Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-888-400 TIPS (8477).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrests<\/strong>
Patrick Diello (7\/12\/1962)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Arrested on two counts of failure to register, and violation of probation on October 2, 2024. During a compliance check, PCSO detectives found an email account and Facebook profile under the name \u201cSuzy Diello\u201d that were not registered with FDLE.\u00a0Diello was convicted of sodomy on a victim under 12-years old in Oneida, County New York in 1993.
<\/em>
Roger Durrance (6\/14\/1973)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Charged with three counts of failure to comply with sexual offender registration laws on October 31, 2024. Detectives found unregistered Snapchat, TikTok, and Gmail accounts in his name during a compliance check.\u00a0Durrance was convicted of unlawful sexual contact with a 16\/17-year-old in 2001 in Polk County.

Benjamin Frederick (6\/9\/1981)\u00a0\u2013 Arrested for failure to register and violation of probation on May 4, and October 15, respectively. He was arrested for failure to register, and while in custody, he used the jail phone to contact a minor. He was additionally charged with violation of probation for this incident. He has been charged with violating his probation by contacting minors twice since his arrest in May 2024.\u00a0Frederick was convicted of sexual battery on a victim between 12 and 15 years old in 2008 in Polk County.

Montana Generi (9\/16\/1992)\u00a0\u2013 Charged with three counts of failure to comply with sexual registration laws on October 2, 2024 while in custody. During a battery investigation in December 2023, PCSO detectives discovered the suspect had failed to register his residence, where the battery occurred, with FDLE. He fled the scene, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was apprehended in Davidson County, Tennessee and extradited to Polk County in July 2024. He was charged with failure to comply for not registering his addresses in Polk County or Tennessee with state law enforcement.\u00a0Generi was convicted of gross sexual imposition in Cuyahoga County, Ohio in 2012.

Daniel Gipp (3\/5\/1973)\u00a0\u2013 Arrested for battery and charged with two counts of failure to comply with sexual offender registration laws on October 16, and 25, 2024 respectively. During a battery investigation on October 16, 2024 detectives discovered that Gipp failed to register a change of residence and update his FL identification as required.\u00a0Gipp was convicted of sexual battery on a victim under 16 years old in 1997 in Pinellas County, Florida.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bentley Hawkins (4\/16\/1964)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Arrested for violation of probation on October 28, 2024. During a compliance check, probation officers discovered a second, unregistered phone in Hawkins\u2019 possession. Both phones had internet access, and the second\/unregistered phone was connected to a phone number that was not registered with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement\u2019s sex offender registry. More charges are anticipated pending further investigation.\u00a0Hawkins was convicted in 2019 for traveling to meet a minor to commit unlawful sexual conduct and attempted lewd battery of a child in Polk County.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryan Hawkins (5\/31\/1965)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Arrested on two counts of failure to comply with sexual offender registry laws on October 20, 2024. He was arrested at a hotel in Lakeland for failure to report a change of residence and failure to update his driver\u2019s license. He told detectives he was residing in the hotel after being kicked out of his home on August 15, 2024.\u00a0Hawkins was convicted of sending harmful material to a minor, traveling to meet a minor to commit unlawful sexual conduct, and using a computer to engage in sexual conduct with a minor in Lake County, Florida in 2016.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacob Jackson (3\/9\/1988)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Charged with violation of probation on October 31, 2024. During a probation search, he was found to be in possession of a cellphone that has internet access, a violation of his probation.\u00a0Jackson was convicted of using a computer to lure a child to engage in sexual conduct and possession of a photo of a child engaging in sexual acts in Polk County in 2021.
<\/em>
David Medina (8\/19\/1964)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Arrested for failure to register a change of residence on October 31, 2024. During a compliance check, it was discovered that he failed to update the address on his driver\u2019s license.\u00a0Varner was convicted in 2006 of committing lewd acts with a victim under 16 years old in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reginald Smith (7\/21\/1987)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Charged with failure to comply with sexual offender registration laws on October 2, 2024. During a compliance check, detectives determined he failed to register a change of residence and to update the address on his driver\u2019s license.\u00a0Smith was convicted of sexual battery of a victim between 12 and 15 years old in 2007, and again in 2008, in Orange County, Florida.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Troy Taapken (10\/19\/1980)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Arrested for violation of probation on October 28, 2024. During a compliance check, a probation officer found an unregistered TikTok account on Taapken\u2019s cellphone.\u00a0Taapken was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim 13 to 16 years<\/em> old in 2016 in Pekin County, Illinois.

Michael Varner (1\/18\/1973)\u00a0\u2013 Charged with violation of probation and three counts of failure to register as a sexual offender on October 31, 2024. During a compliance check by SVRT detectives, unregistered TikTok and Snapchat accounts were found on Varner\u2019s cellphone. He also failed to register his vehicle with FDLE. He is on probation out of Hillsborough County for failure to register a change of residence in 2023.\u00a0Varner was convicted of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes in King County, Washington in 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A non-sex offender was also arrested during the investigation:
Judiel Gonzalez (8\/24\/1961)\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Was charged with violation of probation on October 31, 2024. Gonzalez was not designated as a sex offender but was prohibited from possessing pornographic materials as part of his probation. During a probation search, adult pornographic images were found on his cell phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Convicted sex offenders and sex predators are required by Florida law to register and maintain updated information regarding the following identifying information: name; social security number; age; race; sex; date of birth; height; weight; tattoos or other identifying marks; hair and eye color; photograph; address of legal residence (or temporary residence); electronic mail addresses; Internet identifiers and each Internet identifier’s corresponding website homepage or application software name; home telephone numbers and cellular telephone numbers; employment information; driver’s license or Florida ID information; the make, model, color, vehicle identification number (VIN), and license tag number of all vehicles owned.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office deputies and the Florida Department of Corrections probation officers conducted a Halloween sexual offender\/predator compliance initiative on during the month of October 2024. The operation was… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51542,"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":"12","_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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":51542,"url":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/halloween-initiative-2024-png.webp","type":"image\/png"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[10225],"class_list":["post-51541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-13-sex-offenders-arrested-during-october-halloween-investigative-sweep"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51541","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=51541"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51543,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51541\/revisions\/51543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}