After a five-day sting operation, called "Operation Naughty Not Nice," officials in Polk County, Fla., busted a prostitution ring and arrested 95 people Dec. 14. The joint effort between the Polk County Sheriff's Office and Lakeland Police ended with 21 felony and 111 misdemeanor charges filed against those arrested, according to the Daily Mail.
Fifty prostitutes, 33 johns and 12 other people were charged for crimes related to the prostitution ring, said Sheriff Grady Judd, reported WFLA News. Among those charged were a high school teacher, a Southeastern University football player and a 68-year-old Home Depot worker. The high school teacher admitted to seeking out prostitutes on Craigslist on a monthly basis and has lost his job, reported WTSP 10 News.
A detective who posed as a prostitute to lure johns reported that some of the potential clients caught wind of the operation and would not come to Polk County. "They would tell the detective, 'No, not going there. It's not happening. We know what happens when you come to Polk County,'" said Judd, according to WFLA News.
The 68-year-old man who was arrested was caught after riding his bike across Lakeland, Fla., in a French maid outfit. He approached an undercover agent, they went to a room together and she then arrested him, reported the Daily Mail.
The operation also uncovered three possible sex trafficking victims within the prostitution ring, two were 17 years old and one 15, reported WTSP 10 News. "There is also a direct nexus between prostitution and human trafficking, and we are committed to identifying victims of human trafficking and getting them into programs and out of lives of crime," said Judd, according to the Daily Mail.
