{"id":65276,"date":"2026-04-29T17:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=65276"},"modified":"2026-04-29T23:38:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T03:38:51","slug":"thomas-allen-hicks-aka-santa-claus-busted-for-human-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/04\/29\/thomas-allen-hicks-aka-santa-claus-busted-for-human-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Allen Hicks aka Santa Claus busted for Human trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"827878\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"420\" height=\"439\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-29T165726.618.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-65277 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #827878; aspect-ratio:0.9567538707955152;width:292px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-29T165726.618.webp 420w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-29T165726.618-287x300.webp 287w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reports from today, <strong>April 29, 2026<\/strong>, confirm that a 68-year-old Lakeland man, well-known for playing Santa Claus at major community events, was arrested in a multi-agency child predator sting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"News conference: Operation Child Protector VIII (April 29, 2026)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/s4fBRfgDJj0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Details of the Arrest<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"a79086\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #a79086;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"367\" height=\"436\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 367px) 100vw, 367px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-29T165657.045.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-65278 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-29T165657.045.webp 367w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-29T165657.045-253x300.webp 253w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Thomas Allen Hicks<\/strong> was taken into custody following a multi-day undercover operation conducted by the <strong>Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/strong> and other Florida law enforcement agencies. According to the arrest affidavit, Hicks responded to an online advertisement that he believed was posted by a parent offering a 13-year-old girl for sexual acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Investigators state that Hicks engaged in explicit text and phone conversations, eventually traveling to a designated location to meet the child before being intercepted by detectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Community Involvement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his interview with authorities, Hicks reportedly admitted to the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Santa Persona:<\/strong> He has played Santa Claus for many years at major Christmas events throughout the Lakeland community.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Professional Role:<\/strong> He worked in marketing for <strong>Tri-County Behavioral Health<\/strong> in Polk County.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Personal Life:<\/strong> He admitted to being married for over 50 years while regularly frequenting prostitution websites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Charges and Investigation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hicks is currently facing several felony charges, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Human trafficking<\/strong> (forced sex trade with a minor under 18).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Traveling to meet\/using a computer to solicit<\/strong> a minor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unlawful use of a two-way communication device<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"807269\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #807269;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"489\" height=\"423\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 489px) 100vw, 489px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-29T165531.252.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-65279 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-29T165531.252.webp 489w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-29T165531.252-300x260.webp 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sheriff Grady Judd and Florida officials held a press conference earlier today to discuss the results of this broader operation, which targeted online predators across Central Florida. Hicks was one of several individuals arrested during the sting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reports from today, April 29, 2026, confirm that a 68-year-old Lakeland man, well-known for playing Santa Claus at major community events, was arrested in a multi-agency child predator sting. Details&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"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":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDRcL1NjcmVlbnNob3QtMjAyNi0wNC0yOVQxNjU3MjYuNjE4LndlYnA_Zml0PTQyMCUyQzQzOSZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IlRob21hcyBBbGxlbiBIaWNrcyBha2EgU2FudGEgQ2xhdXMgYnVzdGVkIGZvciBIdW1hbiB0cmFmZmlja2luZyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.yBjByEeDlsAdhjEAwCJ7kqX8bUtqYADLJ-BxY9F6t-kMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA0XC9TY3JlZW5zaG90LTIwMjYtMDQtMjlUMTY1NzI2LjYxOC53ZWJwIiwidHh0IjoiVGhvbWFzIEFsbGVuIEhpY2tzIGFrYSBTYW50YSBDbGF1cyBidXN0ZWQgZm9yIEh1bWFuIHRyYWZmaWNraW5nIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.KStNahZFEe17rHByHdAxoCRIudQFZLZcqCiVN-Q-G74MQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[14499],"class_list":["post-65276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-thomas-allen-hicks-aka-santa-claus-busted-for-human-trafficking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65276","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65276"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65296,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65276\/revisions\/65296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}