Three Disney Employees, As Many as 35 Illegal Immigrants, and a High School Teacher Were Arrested
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida shared a press release announcing the arrest of 219 suspects in a week-long undercover operation which identified 21 possible victims of human trafficking. Among those arrested were three Walt Disney World Employees, a high school teacher and an athletic director, and 35 individuals suspected of being in the country illegally.
“There were 83 suspects arrested for soliciting a prostitute and traveling to the undercover location to negotiate having sex in exchange for money,” the press release said. “17 other suspects were arrested, and of those, 5 were either deriving proceeds from prostitution or aiding and abetting prostitutes, and 8 drove the prostitutes to the undercover location.”
The Sheriff’s Office reported that of the 35 suspected illegal immigrants, “three of those were identified as victims of human trafficking,” and all are from “six different countries: Cuba, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, and the Bahamas.”
Of the 119 arrested for prostitution, the Sheriff’s Office identified 21 possible victims of human trafficking in total. Officials announced that a total of 44 felonies and 242 misdemeanors were charged during the 7-day investigation. Investigators also reported seizing fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana from 42 suspects.
Maria Guzman, the woman “setting the appointments,” and Freddy Escalona were both charged with felony human trafficking and were both found to be in the U.S. illegally.
“He’s come here illegally to victimize people in the United States,” Sheriff Judd said, referring to Escalona.
Russell Rogers, an athletic director at Vanguard School and a teacher at Auburndale High School REAL Academy was also arrested in the operation. According to Sheriff Judd, Rogers is married and has three children. “This dude now is coaching in the county jail,” Judd said in a press conference. “I can’t believe we want somebody like this around our children.” Polk County Public Schools told the Sheriff’s Office that Rogers would be terminated.
“Not only did we arrest more suspects during this single operation than we have ever arrested before, we identified 21 human trafficking victims,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “During a similar operation in February, we identified 24 victims. 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.”
