281 arrested in undercover child predator, human trafficking sting in Florida

Hundreds of people were arrested in undercover stings targeting child predators and human trafficking, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Friday.

Uthmeier and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said 281 people had been arrested during the seven-day operation dubbed “Polk Around and Find Out II.”

According to officials, a traveler sting targeting adults who set out to meet children for sex led to 32 arrests. A human trafficking sting led to 249 more, including 117 sex buyers and 122 people arrested for prostitution.

In total, those arrested face 488 new charges, including 198 felonies.

“The things that these predators say to children are vile, disgusting, and not fit for anyone except trained detectives to read. And even seasoned, trained detectives are repulsed,” Judd is quoted as saying in a news releae. “These predators need to be locked up and stay locked up and away from children. I ask parents to please be involved with their children and monitor their online activity. We cannot prevent predators from reaching out to our children, but we can educate our children and be proactive in catching a predator before they are able to groom or violate our kids.”

Arrests by the numbers

Authorities said traveling to meet a minor for unlawful sexual activity is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in the Florida Department of Corrections.

According to the news release, 40 of the suspects lived in Polk County.

“The rest came from across Florida, 20 other states and 18 countries,” officials said. “They included 17 theme park employees,” but authorities did not specify which parks.

Uthmeier’s office said those arrested included nine people on probation for offenses ranging from bank robbery to cruelty toward a child, “and nine had been caught in earlier Sheriff’s Office stings, two of them in the first Polk Around & Find Out earlier this year.”

The news release also details that suspects brought “24 guns to the operation, and 32 were charged with drug possession, including methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl.”

Officials said those arrested include 32 illegal aliens from countries including Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico and Haiti. Sixteen have already been turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.