LAKELAND, Fla. – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests of eight men in the agency’s latest child pornography investigation.
This latest operation was conducted by the sheriff’s office’s Computer Crimes Unit.
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The sheriff’s office said the eight people included a Disney employee, workers for Publix and Best Buy, and a boudoir photographer. Officials say the suspects were possessing and/or distributing thousands of photos and videos of babies, toddlers and children being forced into sex acts or displayed in sexually explicit poses.
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During a news conference Thursday, Sheriff Grady Judd said while the suspects may be caught, they don’t know where the victims are and they need help finding them. Parents also need to be more aware of what their children are doing online, whether it’s communicating on social media or interacting through computer and video games.
“If you’re not all up in your children’s business, if you don’t know what they’re doing online, if you’re not monitoring, if you’re giving them space, you can be sure one thing: the child predators fill in the space that you’re giving them,” Judd said.
Judd also said it was important to understand that the criminals they are going after do not have long criminal histories, and lead a secret life.
“We truly believe the wives whenever they said we didn’t know because it’s not uncommon for them to hide this from everyone,” Judd said. “So when you see him on the street, they can look like Joe average citizen.”
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says the operations the computer crimes unit undertake can take months before they lead to arrests.
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