Police chief among 160 people arrested in Florida sex sting
Polk County sheriff’s office say they dismantled a major human trafficking organisation
A police chief was among 160 people arrested in a sex trafficking sting operation in Florida on Friday.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the arrested included a several teachers, a state corrections officer, two Disney employees and a former deputy chief of police from Georgia.
Sheriff’s deputies executed a week-long sting called Operation Fall Haul II to find victims of a human trafficking organisation, Mr Grady told a press conference on Friday.
Jason DiPrima, the deputy chief of the Cartersville Police Department in Georgia, had been in Orlando for an American Polygraph Association workshop when he tried to hire a prostitute for $180 and a pack of White Claw, Mr Judd said.
The prostitute was actually an undercover detective, and he was arrested for soliciting another for prostitution, lewdness or assignation.
Mr Judd said Mr DiPrima “was no longer a police officer”.
“If all else fails, he can write a book: how to lose your career in three easy steps,” Mr Judd told reporters.
“You would have thought as a high-ranking police officer that he would have known better. But he didn’t. And now he’s got a lot of issues,” he said.
A high school IT executive from Ocoee was arrested for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old in the operation, Mr Judd said.
A maths teacher and a physical education teacher were also arrested, the sheriff said.
An officer with Lake Correctional Institution, Keith Nieves, 24 of Orlando, was also arrested after trying to have sex with a prostitute who was an undercover detective, according to the sheriff’s office.
“He’s in the jail as a jail bird like the jail birds he watches,” Mr Judd said.
He added that two victims of sex trafficking had been discovered during the operation, and they believed there could be more.
Cartersville Police Department said in a statement that Mr DiPrima had resigned after being placed on administrative leave.