Florida human trafficking bust nets 200, including DISNEY workers

In Florida, 219 people were swept up in a massive sex sting operation including two illegal aliens charged with human trafficking, a teacher, and Disney employees.

(Video Credit: FOX 35 Orlando)

The massive sting in Polk County included illegal aliens, a high school teacher, three Disney employees, and 119 prostitutes, according to authorities. “Operation Traffic Stop 2” was the largest human trafficking bust ever to take place in the county.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who goes after human trafficking with a vengeance in his county, announced on Thursday the results of the operation. He noted that of the 119 prostitutes that were arrested, 21 of them were possible victims of human trafficking, according to Fox News.

“Not only did we arrest more suspects during this single operation than we have ever arrested before, we identified 21 human trafficking victims; during a similar operation in February, we identified 24 victims,” Judd asserted. “That’s 45 victims we were able to identify this year. The valuable relationships that we have with the social services organizations who join us in these operations make it possible for these women to get help and be emancipated from this way of life.”

Freddy Escalona, 30, and Maria Guzman, 36, are both in the United States illegally and were charged with human trafficking and deriving proceeds from prostitution.

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One victim was given a loan by Escalona to fix her car. When she couldn’t pay it back, he allegedly forced her to start turning tricks.

He was arrested after driving the victim to an undercover location. He confessed to detectives that he had “several females that he worked,” or who paid him for transportation and protection, according to Judd.

Guzman also allegedly pimped out two victims from a hotel located in Orlando. She would arrange “dates” and take most of the money they were paid.

“You always think of the guys being human traffickers, but she is the one facing a felony charge which is 30 years in prison. She’s the one that was setting the appointments. She’s the one that was prostituting two young ladies. She was taking 60-70 percent of their money,” Judd said referring to Guzman, according to Fox13 Tampa Bay.

Sheriff Judd said she met her victims online claiming she was looking for people to work in construction.

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“They were going to construct sexual encounters,” Sheriff Judd snarked.

“Judd’s office said 83 suspects were arrested for soliciting prostitution; 17 other suspects were arrested, and of those, five either derived proceeds from prostitution or aiding and abetting prostitutes, and eight drove the prostitutes to the undercover location,” Fox News reported.

Of those arrested, 44 were charged with felonies and 242 were hit with misdemeanors. Thirty-five of those taken into custody are thought to be here illegally and come from countries such as the Bahamas, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela.

“Forty-one of the suspects confessed to detectives they were married; 13 said they received government assistance, 42 brought illegal drugs to the undercover location; two had firearms on them; 18 were from other states; the oldest person arrested was 76-year-old Frank Bydairk; and the youngest was 18-year-old Latrice Vilsaint,” Fox News stated.

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Judd spoke with the press on Thursday and told them that one man was busted after leaving his 1-year-old daughter at home alone while he went to hook up in Polk County. The man claimed the child was not alone because his dog was watching her.

Russell Rogers, who is married with three children and is an athletic director at Vanguard School and a teacher at Auburndale High School REAL Academy, was also caught during the operation.

“This dude now is coaching in the county jail,” Judd quipped. “I can’t believe we want somebody like this around our children.”

Polk County Schools said in a statement that they were disappointed to find out that one of their employees engaged in that type of behavior, according to Fox13 Tampa Bay.

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“Part of being an educator is understanding that you are held to a higher standard for your actions in the classroom, as well as the community,” district officials told the media outlet. “These charges don’t involve students, and Rogers was not on duty as a teacher, but this kind of conduct still has no place in our school system.”

Rogers was hired in April 2013 and has worked at REAL Academy since 2017. Polk County Public Schools is reportedly in the process of terminating him.

Three suspects were Disney employees and another worked at a Disney hotel. That is an alarming trend since it appears every time one of these operations goes down, Disney employees seem to be in the mix.

“This guy has marshmallows for brains,” Judd commented while referring to a man who saw the police and then watched a man and woman enter the room. When the two did not come out, the man reportedly went inside because he believed it was his turn.

“Helping with the seven-day operation were detectives from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, as well as police departments in Auburndale, Bartow, Davenport, Lakeland, Lake Hamilton, Lake Wales, Winter Haven, and Zephyrhills,” Fox News said.

A number of other agencies helped out in the operation, including the Florida Department of Children and Families and social services organizations like One More Child.

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