By Anthony Payero
(POLK COUNTY, Fla.) The Polk County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) teamed with other police departments to launch "Operation Child Protector" — a six-day undercover sting that led to the arrest of 17 people from across central Florida, according to WFLA.
The PCSO said on Tuesday, 16 suspects were gathered from surrounding areas such as Clewiston, Davenport, Kissimmee, Orlando, Polk City and Zephyrhills. The other suspect was visiting the area from Los Angeles.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said all of the suspects were looking to participate in sexual activity with what they believed were children, but were led to undercover officers who feigned to be children online.
“These are nasty, nasty, nasty people, and when we go through this, understand that obviously, we can’t even use the words they used,” Judd said. “We obviously can’t show you the pictures and the video clips that they sent to what they thought were 13-year-old little girls and little boys."
Several of the suspects involved were employees at Disney World, per WFLA.
Savannah Lawrence and Jonathan McGrew, one of the apprehended couples, were looking to engage in a threesome with a 13-year-old girl and roleplay as step-parents and stepdaughter or in a shoplifting situation. The McGrews both worked as custodians at Walt Disney Hollywood Studios.
“Are you kidding me? That’s how you’re talking to 13-year-old children,” Judd said.
Kenneth Javier Aquino, another suspect, served as a lifeguard at Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge. According to Judd, he left his pregnant girlfriend to have sex with someone he thought was a child. The sheriff said Aquino arrived at the undercover location in his work clothes.
“He’s a Navy veteran,” the sheriff said. “That’s right. He was working toward a dive team or a SEAL team or some kind of special ops job. They did a background check on him and found he had friends or affiliates that were gang members, and they tossed him.”
Another suspect, whose identity was not made public, was looking to have unprotected sex with a girl despite being HIV-positive, per Judd.
“Fortunately, our detectives were there instead of the 13-year-old child, but guess what? Had it been a curious little girl as opposed to our very experienced detectives, she would have been directly exposed to HIV," he said.
All of the suspects are facing 48 felony charges and two misdemeanors. Nine of the suspects had a criminal record.
The Auburndale, Orlando and Winter Haven Police Departments, along with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, also participated in this investigation.
The suspects are identified as follows, per WFLA:
- Kenneth Javier Aquino, 26, of Orlando — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery, one count Transmission of Material Harmful to Minor
- Irving Oliver of Lakeland, 41, of Lakeland — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery
- Jarrod Justice, 33, of Los Angeles, California — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery
- Lior Enbar, 31, of Orlando — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery, giving False info to LEO
- Joshua Ortega, 30, of Davenport — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex/One count Attempted Lewd Battery/One count Introduction of Contraband into a Detention Facility/One count Possession of PCP/One count Possession of Paraphernalia
- Julio Enrique Cedeno, Jr., 45, of Zephyrhills — Two counts Transmission of Material Harmful to Minor, one count Unlawful Use of Two-Way Communication Device
- Juan Guadalupe-Arroyo of Davenport — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Misrepresenting Age Online/Use of Computer to Seduce a Child, one count Attempted Lewd Battery
- Carlos Flores, 36, of Orlando — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Misrepresenting Age Online/Use of Computer to Seduce a Child, one count Attempted Lewd Battery (F-3)
- Enrique Medina, 47, of Orlando — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery
- Adam Smith, 30, of Kissimmee — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery
- Jeremiah Davis, 27, of Clewiston — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery
- Thomas Snyder, 44, of Lakeland — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery, one count Transmission of Material Harmful to Minor
- David Ring, 34, of Lakeland — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery, four counts Transmission of Material Harmful to Minor
- Philip Nelson, 27, of Polk City — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery
- Jonathan McGrew, 34, of Kissimmee — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, two counts Transmission of Material Harmful to Minor, one count Attempted Lewd Battery
- Savannah Lawrence, 29, of Kissimmee — One count Traveling to Meet a Minor For Sex, one count Attempted Lewd Battery
- Edward McGaffigan, 37, of Orlando — One count Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communication Device, three counts Transmission of Material Harmful to Minor (F-3)