WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd on Thursday provided details on an undercover operation that resulted in the arrest of more than a dozen men accused of trying to have sex with children.
And, one of the men, who worked for Disney, is someone detectives have been trying to catch for years.
According to a release, multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Polk County Sheriff's Office, just wrapped up a two-week undercover investigation, dubbed "Operation Cyber Guardian 2" to find people who "prey upon and travel to meet children for unlawful sexual activity."
The detectives reportedly posed as children on social media platforms, mobile apps and on dating sites in order to find them. During the operation, 13 men were arrested, including a Disney employee, a Publix employee, an Amazon employee and a man "who installs internet safety programs in schools."
According to the sheriff's office, 42-year-old Kevin Sanders started an online conversation with an undercover detective posing as a 13-year-old girl. Believing he was talking to a 13-year-old, Sanders reportedly described sex acts he wanted to do to the girl. He added they would "have to be careful" because of her age, detectives said.
For several years, Sanders has been engaging online with undercover detectives he believed were children, the sheriff's office said. But, he always stopped communicating before traveling to meet the supposed child for sex.
Finally, during this undercover operation, detectives said they were able to identify Sanders and get a warrant for his arrest. And he was arrested on Sept. 7 at Disney, where he works.
Judd said he'd been an employee for 16 years at Disney as a roving IT support specialist. The sheriff's office adds he was previously a member of Disney's YES (Youth Education Series) Program, which provides educational opportunities for students ages 5-18.
Sanders reportedly confessed to detectives he had sexually explicit conversations with who he believed was a teen. Judd said Sanders is married and has two kids.
The agency said three of the men thought they were talking with a parent or guardian of a child who wanted to teach their "child" to have sex or to arrange for the child to have sex with the man.
Eight of the accused predators traveled to a location with the intent to have sex with children, the sheriff's office said. Five men had sexually explicit conversations or sent harmful material to the undercover detectives, who the men believed were children.
The sheriff's office said the five men all had warrants for their arrest and sent sexually explicit images and/or videos to who they believed were 13, 14 or 15-year-old girls, or 14-year-old boys.
"We will continue to conduct proactive operations like this to search out
these evil predators before they get to our children," Judd said in a statement. "Thanks to the hard work of our detectives and the detectives in our partnering agencies, these 13 predators have been arrested. We are going hold them criminally accountable for their attempts to sexually abuse, groom, and corrupt our children."
Judd also urged parents to "get all in your child's business" when it comes to their use of technology.
The sheriff's office said it worked with police departments in Auburndale, Bartow and Davenport, the sheriff's offices in Hernando and Orange counties, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and state attorney Brian Haas.