By: James Matlock
In seven days in Polk County, Florida, a multi-agency undercover operation called “Polk Around and Find Out II” produced 281 arrests and 488 charges (198 of them felonies). Among those taken into custody were 13 Walt Disney World employees, four Universal Studios workers, a youth football coach responsible for children ages 11–14, an active-duty U.S. Navy sailor, and an Orange County sheriff’s deputy.
These were not random strangers. They held jobs and roles that gave them proximity to families and children. Some arrived still in or near their work uniforms or with theme-park badges in their vehicles. A Disney employee who had worked as a Mickey Mouse character was among those arrested in the child-predator component of the investigation. The youth coach, identified as Rashion/Rashawn Crayton of the Davenport Titans, traveled expecting to meet a 14-year-old girl. An active-duty Navy petty officer stationed in Jacksonville did the same for a supposed 14-year-old. An Orange County school resource deputy was arrested for soliciting prostitution.
Of the 281 arrests, roughly 31–32 involved adults who traveled to an undercover location intending to have sex with a child. Two of those faced human trafficking charges. Eleven human-trafficking victims were identified on-site and offered services by partner organizations. The larger share of the operation targeted commercial sex: 117 people who traveled to buy sex and 122 arrested on prostitution-related charges. Only about 40 of those arrested lived in Polk County; the rest came from elsewhere in Florida, 20 other states, and 18 countries. Thirty-two were in the country illegally (16 already transferred to ICE). Twenty-four brought firearms. Collectively, those arrested had nearly 800 prior charges.
Sheriff Grady Judd stated: “These predators are out there, online, trying to groom and violate our children. … The things that these predators say to children are vile, disgusting, and not fit for anyone except trained detectives to read.” Attorney General James Uthmeier added that anyone who came expecting to sexually abuse a child “found cuffs instead.” Disney confirmed it terminated the employees involved; Universal did the same.
This operation is one of the largest undercover efforts in Polk County history and part of a broader pattern of repeated stings by the same sheriff’s office. It is also a reminder of scale and method. Predators actively seek positions of trust—theme-park work, youth sports, law enforcement, the military—because those roles lower suspicion and increase access. Many travel across state and national lines. Many already have records. The online grooming and travel-to-meet tactics that produced the child-predator arrests are routine.
Parents and communities cannot outsource vigilance. Monitor devices and apps. Know the adults who coach, teach, or interact with your children. Do not assume a uniform, badge, or theme-park name equals safety. The same principle applies to every community, not just Central Florida.
Law enforcement that runs these operations, identifies victims, and coordinates with ICE and prosecutors is doing the concrete work of protecting children. Support that work, demand it continue, and refuse to treat the sexual exploitation of minors as an abstract or secondary issue. The next generation is the reason the line is drawn here.
All those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. The volume of arrests, the identities involved, the prior records, and the presence of trafficking victims still stand as documented facts that require attention and response. This is part of what the fight for the nation and its children looks like in practice.
