WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd introduced a latest undercover human trafficking investigation, “Fall Haul 2,” which led to the arrests of 160 folks.
During a news convention on Friday, Judd, accompanied in half by representatives of social service organizations that participated in the operation, stated a number of individuals who had been arrested had been already identified to the prison justice system.
One arrest included a Deputy Police Chief from Georgia, who tried to rent a prostitute with $180 and a pack of White Claw. Another included a state corrections officer from the Lake Correctional Institution in Clermont, Florida.
“Birds of a feather flock together,” stated Judd, evaluating each law-enforcement officers.
Among the remainder of the folks arrested had been a Disney worker, a number of faculty academics, faculty employees and 15 folks from different states. Only 16 folks had been from Polk County.
According to Judd, these arrested had a mixed 419 felonies and 619 misdemeanors.
Judd additionally acknowledged, “The vast majority of these ladies are or have previously been taken advantage of,” earlier than mentioning an image of a silhouetted face with a query mark in the center that learn, “Hit Victim.” He went on to say that they’d start offering companies as quickly as they had been taken into custody and deal with them as victims, not criminals.
Organizations reminiscent of One More Child, Heartland for Children, My Name My Voice and the Children’s Home Society of Florida supplied on-site companies to establish potential trafficking victims through the operation.
“The online prostitution industry enables traffickers and allows for the continued victimization of those who are being trafficked. Our goal is to identify victims, offer them help, and arrest those who are fueling the exploitation of human beings (Johns) and those profiting from the exploitation of human beings. Prostitution is not a victimless crime – it results in exploitation, disease, dysfunction, drug and alcohol addiction, violence, and broken families,” stated Judd.