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Undercover investigation ‘Polk Around and Find Out’
Sheriff Grady Judd said the portion of a multi-day joint-agency undercover investigation, "Polk Around and Find Out" that focused on prostitution and human trafficking resulted in 247 arrests.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Sheriff Grady Judd said the portion of a multi-day joint-agency undercover investigation, "Polk Around and Find Out" that focused on prostitution and human trafficking resulted in 247 arrests.
Sheriff Judd was joined by other agency heads, Sheriffs, and Police Chiefs during a news conference on Friday morning to announce the arrests.
The backstory:
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, there was a total of 266 arrests. Authorities say 247 arrests were related to soliciting prostitutes, offering to commit prostitution, aiding/abetting or transporting prostitutes, and other charges; and 19 arrests were related to child sexual predators.
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According to the PCSO, 127 suspects who traveled to commit prostitution were screened by detectives and social services organizations to determine if they were being trafficked or exploited by others, and were offered services by the social services organizations during the operation.
During this investigation, officials say seven possible human trafficking victims were identified.
There were 108 suspects arrested for soliciting a prostitute and traveling to the undercover location to negotiate having sex in exchange for money, according to authorities. Deputies say two of those suspects brought children to the undercover location and were charged with child neglect. PCSO says 12 other suspects were arrested for aiding/abetting, transporting, or deriving proceeds from prostitutes.
"Four different people brought firearms to the undercover operations. So people that think, oh, this is low level and not violent. Yeah, that's wrong. It is violent and it's dangerous," said Sheriff Judd.
Dig deeper:
According to the sheriff's office, of the 247 human-trafficking arrests, 34 are in the country illegally (from 10 different countries: Cuba, El Salvador, Argentina, Russia, Mexico, India, Venezuela, Haiti, Italy, France, Bahama, Honduras, Bolivia, Romania, Colombia, Jamaica, Ecuador, Canada), and 22 are collecting public assistance – $15,188 per month collectively.
"We arrested people from 11 states, 18 different countries, 35 were married. I bet that made their spouse really, really excited," shared Sheriff Judd.
Sheriff Judd said one suspect was arrested and charged with offering to commit prostitution. After she was released from jail on bond, deputies said she continued to advertise her services, traveled to an undercover location, and was arrested again. Two male suspects brought children to the undercover location after agreeing to pay an undercover detective posing as a prostitute, for sex, according to investigators. Both men were charged with child neglect.
The Source: Information for this story was collected from the Polk County Sheriff's Office.