{"id":86499,"date":"2026-10-29T20:46:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T00:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=86499"},"modified":"2026-10-29T20:46:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T00:46:30","slug":"disney-worker-coach-and-navy-sailor-among-16-arrested-in-massive-polk-county-predator-sting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/10\/29\/disney-worker-coach-and-navy-sailor-among-16-arrested-in-massive-polk-county-predator-sting\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney Worker, Coach, and Navy Sailor Among 16 Arrested in Massive Polk County Predator Sting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This headline refers to a major undercover child predator operation conducted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office<\/strong> in Florida, led by Sheriff Grady Judd.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The sting targeted individuals traveling to meet minors for illegal sexual activity after communicating with undercover detectives posing as children online.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable Arrests & Suspect Backgrounds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Navy Veteran & Disney Employee:<\/strong> Donald Paul Diem Jr., 33, a married father and Navy veteran who worked for Disney Vacation Club, was arrested after driving his vehicle to meet a decoy posing as a 14-year-old girl.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Youth Coach:<\/strong> Jose Salgado, 28, an assistant youth soccer coach and pest control technician, was arrested after attempting to meet a decoy posing as a 13-year-old girl.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Other Suspects:<\/strong> The multi-day sting netted a total of 16 suspects ranging in age from 21 to 59, including college students, a registered sex offender, and a grandfather.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Charges Filed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The primary charges filed against the suspects included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Traveling to Meet a Minor for Sex<\/strong> (Second-degree felony)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Attempted Lewd Battery<\/strong> (Third-degree felony)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Use of a Computer\/Device to Seduce or Solicit a Child<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      All suspects were booked into the Polk County Jail following their arrests.<\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      This headline refers to a major undercover child predator operation conducted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, led by Sheriff Grady Judd. The sting targeted individuals traveling to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86501,"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":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzEwXC9pbWFnZXMtMzEud2VicCIsInR4dCI6IkRpc25leSBXb3JrZXIsIENvYWNoLCBhbmQgTmF2eSBTYWlsb3IgQW1vbmcgMTYgQXJyZXN0ZWQgaW4gTWFzc2l2ZSBQb2xrIENvdW50eSBQcmVkYXRvciBTdGluZyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.luypiqs0Rth78fDu8ExU1hy0NISkkWXB0pokRODMg4UMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzEwXC9pbWFnZXMtMzEud2VicCIsInR4dCI6IkRpc25leSBXb3JrZXIsIENvYWNoLCBhbmQgTmF2eSBTYWlsb3IgQW1vbmcgMTYgQXJyZXN0ZWQgaW4gTWFzc2l2ZSBQb2xrIENvdW50eSBQcmVkYXRvciBTdGluZyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.luypiqs0Rth78fDu8ExU1hy0NISkkWXB0pokRODMg4UMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[18241,18106,15189,15267,15238,18761,3365,15236],"class_list":["post-86499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-arrests","tag-child-predator-sting","tag-crime","tag-florida-news","tag-grady-judd","tag-human-trafficking","tag-law-enforcement","tag-polk-county-sheriffs-office"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86499","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=86499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86502,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86499\/revisions\/86502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}