WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Two human trafficking victims were identified during an undercover investigation that focused on sex crimes in Polk County, according to the agency.
Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference Friday discussing the arrests of 160 people, including school teachers, a Disney employee, a state corrections officer, and a deputy police chief from Georgia at the Sheriff's Operation Center in Winter Haven.
Along with those who have admitted to being victims, deputies suspect there are five other possible trafficked victims, however, those individuals have not admitted to being victims.
"What's really really important to us, is not just that we have a police operation because we had a successful police operation. But we are trying to identify the victims of human trafficking," Judd said during the news conference.
He said the goal of the operation is to put potential victims in contact with social services.
Judd later went on to give details about specific individuals who stuck out during the investigation, such as 49-year-old Jason DiPrima of Kingston, Georgia. DiPrima was deputy chief of police administration for the Cartersville Police Department in Georgia. He recently resigned from the department, Judd said.
Only 16 of the people arrested were from Polk County, everyone else was from out of town.
"The online prostitution industry enables traffickers and allows for the continued victimization of those who are being trafficked," Judd said in an earlier statement.
He continued, "Our goal is to identify victims, offer them help, and arrest those who are fueling the exploitation of human beings (Johns) and those profiting from the exploitation of human beings. Prostitution is not a victimless crime — it results in exploitation, disease, dysfunction, drug and alcohol addiction, violence, and broken families."
Representatives from other social services organizations were in attendance. One More Child, Heartland for Children, My Name My Voice and the Children's Home Society of Florida participated in the operation to help identify potential victims.