Polk County prostitution sting nets 228 arrests, 13 possible human trafficking victims

The Polk County Sheriff's Office Vice Unit arrested 228 suspects ranging in age from 16 to 73 from across Florida and 11 other states in a recent prostitution operation.

"This is a new record number of arrests during an investigation of this kind," Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. "More importantly, we identified 13 human trafficking victims; during two previous similar operations in February and October 2023, we identified 24 and 21 victims, respectively. That's 58 victims we were able to identify in one year."

The Sheriff's Office launched the eight-day undercover sting on Feb. 22 on the west side Polk County in Lakeland. The multi-agency effort included Lakeland Police Department and police agencies in Auburndale, Davenport, Haines City, Lake Hamilton, Lake Wales and St. Cloud, as well as Winter Have Fire Rescue.

The vast majority, 150 people, were arrested for soliciting a prostitute and traveling to an undercover location to negotiate having sex for money. An additional 12 individuals were arrested, eight of which were for deriving proceeds for prostitution or transporting prostitutes to an undercover location.

Judd said there were 66 prostitutes arrested, of which 13 were screened and may be possible human-trafficking victims.

Of the 228 arrested, Grady said 42 individuals were Polk residents.

"Those of you from Polk County know better," he said. "We talk about this, we don't hide it, and if you don't know about it you obviously live under a rock."

Two individuals self-reported connections with Polk County schools.

Other crimes included 44 suspects who brought illegal drugs to the undercover sting and 15 brought firearms resulting in 17 guns being seized.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFL.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County sheriff arrests 228 in prostitution sting, 42 live in Polk