What is Operation Child Protector? Florida sex sting leads to arrest of 17 suspected pedophiles
POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA: Florida police launched a new undercover operation to identify and arrest pedophiles and sexual predators. Dubbed 'Operation Child Protector', the mission has already led to the arrest of 17 people, including three Disney World employees. Between July 27 and August 1, these 17 potential sex offenders were identified and contacted by undercover police officials. The arrested 'pedophiles' are aged between 26 to 47 years and all of them hail from Central Florida, barring one man from California.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd addressed a press conference on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, where he shared details about the arrests. "What you see on this board … are deviants. Incredible deviants. They travel from as far away as Clewiston, Florida. One even came from Los Angeles," he revealed, indicated a series of photos of the felons. "Much to their chagrin, instead of meeting with young children, they were met by law enforcement officers who were online undercover posing as children," Judd further added.
READ MORE
Who is Sarah Sands? Mom stabbed pedophile to death who abused her 12-year-old son
As part of the operation, undercover police officers posed at teenagers of 13 and 14 years on social media and online dating apps. They established contact with each suspect and interacted with them for a while. Afterward, they proposed a meeting at a specific location in Polk County, where the offenders were eventually nabbed by the cops.
The arrested suspects have been slapped with 49 felonies and two misdemeanor charges. Among the suspects, there is a 26-year-old Disney World employee named Kenneth Javier Aquino, who reportedly engaged in an online conversation with a cop disguised as a 13-year-old girl. The Navy veteran who now works as a lifeguard at Animal Kingdom Lodge allegedly sent an explicit video of himself to the underage 'girl' and sought photos from her as well. He later revealed to the police that he has a girlfriend who is pregnant at the moment.
Another Disney World employee, 34-year-old Jonathan McGrew, was also nabbed in a similar manner. The custodian at Disney World reportedly told the '13-year-old girl' to come over and have sex with him and his 29-year-old girlfriend. He proceeded to send explicit videos of him and his girlfriend engaging in sexual acts.
Disney World is yet to issue a statement about the three suspected sex offenders among their employees who were arrested.