During a multi-day joint-agency undercover operation led by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office named “Operation Child Protector VIII” focusing on those who prey upon and travel to meet children for unlawful sexual activity, 19 suspects were arrested for a multitude of felonies. 

PCSO detectives were joined by detectives from the Auburndale Police Department, Davenport Police Department, Lake City Police Department, Orlando Police Department, Hardee County Sheriff’s Office, Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, Pasco Sheriff’s Office, San Francisco (CA) Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Financial Services Criminal Investigations Division.

Sixteen of the suspects communicated with and solicited who they thought were children or guardians of children online, and were charged with traveling to meet a minor for sex. Three suspects sent nude photos to the undercover detectives, and five suspects were from outside Polk County. Seven of the suspects are married, and three are military veterans. Three of the suspects were charged with human trafficking, for offering to pay to have sex with a child. 

In all, the suspects are collectively charged with 85 felonies and 8 misdemeanors.

“It never ceases to amaze us how many suspects travel to have sex with who they believe are children, especially here in Polk County where we proactively investigate and arrest those who prey on children. Speaking of believing, we even arrested Santa Claus during this undercover operation.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff

“The child predators arrested during this operation are exactly where they belong, locked up and behind bars. I want to thank Sheriff Grady Judd for spearheading this operation and I want to thank each and every law enforcement officer who worked to bring these vile criminals to justice. My office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure safety in our communities and to protect Floridians,” said Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia.

SUSPECTS ARRESTED (in alphabetical order):

1. 33-year-old Tyler Berrie, DOB 11/13/1992, of Lake Wales, FL. Berrie sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old girl.  He was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child and arranged to pick her up at a local park, offering to pay her $200 to perform sex acts on her. He left work early to meet her, and brought her candy bars. 

Berrie was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Human trafficking (F1)
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

2. 51-year-old Trenton Berry, DOB 8/8/1974, of Lakeland, FL. Berry sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old boy. He told the UC the sex acts he wanted to perform “before going to work” and within 21 minutes of initiating the online conversation, he drove to the undercover location. He told detectives he is married. He was arrested by the PCSO during Operation Traffic Stop in February 2023 for offering to commit prostitution.

Berry was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)
• Possession of methamphetamine (F3)
• Possession of drug paraphernalia (M1)

3. 33-year-old Noah Berumen, DOB 3/15/1993, of Orlando, FL. Berumen sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old boy. He told the UC the sex acts he wanted to perform and he drove to the undercover location after dropping off his fare - he is an Uber driver.

Berumen was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)
• Resisting arrest (M1)

4. 39-year-old Gheorghe Bradley, DOB 1/5/1987, of Lakeland, FL. Bradley sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old boy. He was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child and sent him nude photos. He told detectives he is married with a baby on the way.

Bradley was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Transmission of material harmful to a minor (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

5. 21-year-old Alan Brown Jr., DOB 11/29/2004, of Lakeland, FL. Brown sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. He was also identified as a suspect referenced in a NCMEC tip regarding possession of child pornography.

Brown was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

6. 35-year-old Joshua Sanchez Bullard, DOB 1/7/1991, of Haines City, FL. Sanchez sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old boy. He was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child and sent him a sexually explicit video. He told detectives he has been married to his husband for four years.

Sanchez Bullard was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Transmission of material harmful to a minor (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

7. 24-year-old Hongkun Cheng, DOB 3/6/2003, of Tampa, FL. Cheng sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. He was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child and asked her to send nude photos, and photos of her feet and armpits. He told detectives he spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Cheng was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

8. 38-year-old Clinton Dees, DOB 3/15/1988, of Winter Haven, FL. A NCMEC tip was sent to the PCSO regarding video and image files depicting child sexual abuse material where the ages of the victims ranged from six years old to ten years old in an account that detectives identified as belonging to Dees. They determined that Dees had been arrested on March 29, 2026, for DUI and is currently still in the Polk County Jail. They served a search warrant to collect the cell phone Dees had on him upon his arrest, and Dees was additionally charged with: 

• 7 counts possession of child pornography (F3)

9. 57-year-old David Esquivel, DOB 4/2/1969, of Haines City, FL. Esquivel sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old boy. He was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child and said he would bring a condom (he did). He told detectives he has been married for 28 years and he and his wife have 4 children and one grandchild.

Esquivel was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)
• Resisting arrest (M1)

10. 27-year-old Noah Geraci, DOB 4/4/1999, of Lakeland, FL. Geraci sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old boy. He was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child and sent nude photos. He told detectives he is married.

Geraci was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Transmission of material harmful to a minor (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

11. 34-year-old Derek Heard, DOB 6/25/1991, of Lakeland, FL. Heard sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old boy. He was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child and said he would bring condoms.

Heard was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

12. 68-year-old Thomas Hicks, DOB 9/4/1957, of Lakeland, FL. Hicks sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl’s guardian. He told the UC that he would pay $200 to have sex with the girl and was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child, but said that he would be gentle. He told detectives that he has been married over 50 years, but regularly goes onto known “prostitution sites” looking for prostitutes or companions. Hicks is in marketing for Tri-County Behavioral Health in Polk County, and plays Santa Claus every year at several different events.

Hicks was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Human trafficking (F1)
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)

13. 62-year-old Lonnie Hill Sr., DOB 7/20/1963, of Riviera Beach, FL. For five weeks, Hill sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. He told the UC that he wanted to marry her, and he drove over 2.5 hours to pick her up. He brought condoms and male enhancement pills. He fought with deputies as they were taking him into custody, resulting in breaking one of the deputies’ legs.

Hill was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)
• Aggravated battery on LEO (F1)
• Resisting arrest with violence (F3)
• Resisting arrest without violence (M1)

14. 62-year-old Robert Johnson, DOB 1/14/1964, of Walpole, MA. Johnson sent social media messages and nude photos from Massachusetts to an undercover detective in Polk County who was posing as a 14-year-old girl. He was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child. Detectives worked with the Walpole Police Department in serving an arrest warrant, and they took him into custody and booked him into their jail on the Polk warrant.

Johnson was charged with:
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Transmission of material harmful to a minor (F3)

15. 18-year-old Saulo Jurado-Rodriguez, DOB 11/8/2007, of Winter Haven, FL. On Thursday, April 23, 2026, while on aerial patrol, a PCSO pilot observed two individuals standing near the wood line along Bomber Road, acting suspiciously. Patrol deputies responded and made contact with Jurado-Rodriguez, and a 15-year-old girl, who told deputies that Jurado-Rodriguez arranged via Instagram to meet her near the woods, then the two went into a vacant home in an area under construction. Inside the vacant home, Jurado-Rodriguez provided the victim with alcohol then had sex with her. They were returning to the wooded area when they were spotted by the helicopter pilot. 

Jurado-Rodriguez was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child after misrepresenting age (F2) 
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F2)
• Contributing to the delinquency of a minor (M1)
• Giving alcohol to a minor (M2)

16. 36-year-old Ahmed Morsi, DOB 6/25/1989, of Spring Hill, FL. Morsi sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. He told the UC that he was a dentist in Egypt, and was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child. He brought marinated raw chicken to the undercover location to cook for the child. 

Morsi was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

17. 27-year-old Josue Negron, DOB 2/17/1999, of Lakeland, FL. Negron sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl and was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child. He said he was “definitely convinced this is PCSO” but still traveled to the undercover location. He brought a box of condoms. 

Negron was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

18. 57-year-old George Thomas Jr., DOB 10/27/1968, of Lake Wales, FL. Thomas sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl’s guardian. He offered to pay $100 for a half an hour of sexual activity with the child. He told detectives he is married and an Air Force veteran. He brought a box of condoms to the undercover location. 

Thomas was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Human trafficking (F1)
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)

19. 35-year-old Joshua Velez, DOB 6/8/1990, of Lakeland, FL. Velez sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old boy. He said he wanted to “rape” the boy but upon his arrest, told detectives that he meant he thought the boy “looked good.” He told detectives he receives $975 per month in public assistance.

Velez was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with:
• Traveling to meet a minor (F2)
• Use of computer to seduce a child (F3)
• Use of two-way communication device to commit a felony (F3)
• Attempted lewd/lascivious battery on a minor (F3)