3 Disney employees, 2 military vets, poker pro among 17 child predators busted in Florida undercover sting
Authorities in Florida announced on Tuesday that a total of 17 people were apprehended in an undercover sting operation targeting child predators, including three Disney employees, two military veterans, a professional poker player, and an HIV-positive suspect.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office, which oversaw the multiagency sting operation from July 27 to August 1, said that police arrested the 16 male suspects and one female suspect after they showed up at a secret location where they planned to commit sexual offenses against minors under the age of 13.
In a press release on Tuesday, Sheriff Grady Judd detailed the alarming charges. He said that the suspects were arranged to meet up with underage girls and boys by the investigators, who also used social networking sites and dating applications to entice the “incredible deviants.” According to Judd, some of the suspects brought candy and condoms to the secret locations, while others sent sexually suggestive videos to the police.
“These are nasty, nasty, nasty people,” Judd said to the press.
44-year-old suspect According to the sheriff, Thomas Snyder, a janitor at an assisted living facility, even described an odd sexual fantasy to an investigator while pretending to be a 14-year-old youngster.
“You can’t make up what I’m about to tell you,” Judd claimed. “He says, ‘I like smelly feet.’ Did you hear that? He likes smelly feet. He wanted to smell a little boy’s feet. And then he wanted to play with his toes.”
Judd noted that among the suspects were a boyfriend and his girlfriend, who work as janitors at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and planned to play a role-playing game with a child.
“This pair showed up thinking that they would have a threesome with a 13-year-old little girl,” Judd stated.
The two, 29-year-old Savannah Lawrence and 34-year-old Jonathan McGrew, are said to have admitted to the crimes.
The third Disney employee has been identified as 26-year-old Kenneth Javier Aquino, a Navy veteran who works as a lifeguard at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in the theme park. Officials noted that Aquino left his expectant partner at their home and showed up at the hidden location still dressed in his Disney attire.
Detectives said that the lone suspect who resides in Florida is 33-year-old Los Angeles resident Jarrod Justice. Justice brought Sour Patch Kids candy to the undercover location with the intention of molesting a young girl.The accused pervert, according to Judd, had been on vacation, but he won’t be returning home to his wife anytime soon.
“He’s married,” the sheriff stated. “Mrs. Justice, did you hear that? Your married husband showed up from Los Angeles thinking he was going to have sex with a 13-year-old little girl while you’re in Los Angeles behaving and holding the house down.”
“His last name is Justice. That’s what we’re going to get. Justice for Justice. And our justice for Justice, we hope, will be 10 or 15 years in prison,” Judd added.
The other suspects include Edward McGaffigan, a 37-year-old professional poker player; Jeremiah Davis, a 27-year-old Army veteran; Juan Guadalupe-Arroyo, a 47-year-old registered nurse; Carlos Flores, a 36-year-old Starbucks manager; and Lior Enbar, a 31-year-old Domino’s Pizza delivery driver. Along the bust were Julio Enrique Cedeno, Jr., 45; Enrique Medina, 47; Philip Nelson, 27, Irving Oliver, 41; Joshua Ortega, 30, David Ring, 34, and Adam Smith, 30.
Because of laws protecting patient privacy, Judd refrained from revealing which suspect was HIV-positive.
“Did you hear what I’m telling you? He’s HIV positive,” the sheriff pointed out at his press release. “He showed up to have unprotected sex with what he thought was a child. If that’s not the worst of the worst, I can’t imagine how it gets any worse.”
The suspects are being charged with several felonies, including transmitting material harmful to children, traveling to meet an underage child for sexual purposes, and attempting salacious battery.
The police departments of Orlando, Auburndale, and Winter Haven, along with investigators from Judd’s Orange County Sheriff’s Office, participated in the operation known as “Operation Child Protector.”
