An undercover child pornography investigation in Polk Country, Florida has resulted in 11 arrests. Ten men and a 16-year-old were part of a child pornography ring. One man was an employee at Disney World, another building blocks for LegoLand, and another a parent helper and driver for his son's Boy Scout group.
The month-long "Operation Guardians of Innocence II" identified and arrested those involved in the possession, promotion and distribution of child pornography. This was not 16 or 17 year olds doing porn, or older women passing themselves off as underage. This was material where young children and babies were being raped. Some were still in diapers. "This is the most horrific conduct you could ever understand in your entire life," said Sheriff Grady Judd.
Between the 11 suspects, 660 felony charges were filed, with more pending. Sheriff Grady Judd added:
"As you know, this is just the beginning - once we serve search warrants and seize the devices that these suspects are using to download and distribute pornography, we will do a complete forensic analysis, and in all likelihood we will be adding on more charges related to the felony possession and distribution of images and videos of children being sexually battered. Most of the images we saw during this investigation depicted children being sexually battered, that we have seen before - which means we haven't yet identified any local child victims, but as always, that is also a part of our investigation"
In a press conference at 1PM on June 5, 2018, Sheriff Judd called the suspects 'human', but then corrected himself saying: "Woops, did I call them a human being?"
Here is the full list of suspects are charged filed so far:
- 48-year-old Edward Zaborowski III, of Davenport | Bartender in Orlando, parent helper and driver for his son's Boy Scout Troop
- 64 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
- 1 count promotion of sexual performance by a child (F-2)
- 64-year-old Richard Cousins, of Davenport | Registered sex offender, arrested in 1992 in Maine for sexual assault on two male victims under 13
- 143 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
- 3 counts promotion of sexual performance by a child (F-2)
- 51-year-old Bruce Nopper, of Auburndale
- 12 counts possession of child pornography (F-3)
- 1 count promotion of sexual performance by a child (F-2)
- 30-year-old Rickie Vargas-Garcia, of Davenport | Lego builder for Merlin Entertainment, arrested in 2008 in Virginia for DUI
- 10 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
- 84-year-old Don Carrier, of Davenport
- 200 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
- 53-year-old Roger Catey, of Davenport | Walt Disney World project manager in costumes department
- 24 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
- 2 counts promotion of sexual performance by a child (F-2)
- 35-year-old Mathew Sentz, of Lakeland | Registered sex offender arrested in 2000 for possession of child pornography when he was 17-years-old
- 100 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
- 24-year-old Jarrod Whiting, of Lakeland
- 14 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
- 20-year-old Alejandro Baltazar II, of Mulberry | student at HCC
- 55 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
- 69-year-old Donald Marich, of Lake Alfred | Retired schoolteacher, lives alone, Disney annual pass holder that frequently attends the theme park alone
- 16 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
- 3 counts promotion of child pornography (F-2)
- A 16-year-old boy, of Kissimmee
- 12 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
In the news conference yesterday, Sheriff Judd described several of the suspects.
Bruce Nopper said he has been viewing child porn since the 1980s, and his favorite is children between the ages of 4 and 6 years old.
Mathew Sentz is already a registered sex offender and already spent 3 years in prison for child pornography.
Richard Cousins is also a registered sex offender, and likes children between 8 and 10 years old. In 1992 he sexually abused 2 children between 7 and 12 years old, and spent 1 year out of a 4 year sentence in Maine.
Rickie Vargas-Garcia builds Legos offsite from LegoLand park. He prefers children 3 to 5 years old.
Roger Catey is an costume manager for Disney World. He prefers children as young as 3 years old.
Donald Marich taught school for 30 years in Arizona, and likes Florida because he loves Disney world and goes there 2-3 times a week.
Don Carrier, a member of Mensa, looked at child pron when his wife was away and was doing so when he was arrested. He likes to look at children as young as 3 years old as well.
Sheriff Judd has a warning to the parents: "You are the first line of defense." Judd wants to know who these children and babies are. He wants to find the people who created these child rapes and pornography. Parents need to know where their children are going online, because these types of people are there. A Polk County Sheriff's Office Facebook post says:
We believe that children should have NO expectation of privacy in your home. We believe it is YOUR job to keep your kids safe online, and the only way to do that is to monitor what they’re doing, and not allow them to download apps.
Here’s an analogy for ya: when you teach your child to swim, do you just throw her in the deep end of the pool and shout, “Good luck, kid!” What about this - before your child gets a driver’s license, do you just hand over the keys, and go, “Here ya go – figure it out!” No. You don’t. You provide swimming lessons. You teach them how to drive. So why on earth do you buy your kid a phone or a tablet and just hand it over, and let them figure it all out by themselves?
What lurks online is JUST AS DANGEROUS (if not worse) than the deep end of the pool, or being behind a wheel. So why not teach your kid how to safely surf the web? Don’t be THAT parent that says, “My kid would never do any of this,” because there’s probably a good chance your kid would do this.
Here are 9 apps that are known to be used by child predators and pornographers:
Two resources provided for helping parents to keep children safe online are:
References:
- Undercover Child Pornography Investigation "Operations Guardians of Innocence II" Results in 11 Arrests
- Disney World, Legoland employees among 11 people arrested in Polk County child porn ring
- Disney World, Legoland employees among 11 arrested in undercover child porn sting
- Fmr. Disney World, Legoland employees among 11 arrested in Polk Co. child porn sting
- Disney World, Legoland employees among 11 people arrested in Polk County child porn ring
- Disney World, Legoland employees among 11 arrested in undercover child porn sting
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
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