Former Disney employee one of 21 Florida men trying to have sex with teens, sheriff says

Some offered to bring drugs and others sent photos, but all 21 came to Sarasota County with the intent to have sex with a child, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office announced Tuesday that 21 people have been arrested as part of Operation Intercept V, a six-day initiative to "protect children in Sarasota County from online predators."

All of the men arrested traveled with intent to have sex with a boy or girl, according to the sheriff's office.

Of those arrested, four were from Bradenton and 10 were from Sarasota, with the rest from Englewood, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Hialeah Gardens, Davenport, North Port and Venice. They ranged in age from 22 to 58 years old with a total of more than 60 felony charges between them, officials noted.

A man from Davenport, 24-year-old Albert Vira III, worked as a diesel mechanic at Walt Disney World, Sheriff Tom Knight said during a news conference Tuesday. Vira promised to stay with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl if he were to get her pregnant, according to the sheriff's office. The girl Vira believed he was talking to was a detective. Vira worked for Disney until late September 2017, according to a company official.

Those arrested responded to ads on the internet, online applications or social media sites and had sexually explicit conversations with who they thought was a minor between 12 and 14 years old, according to the sheriff's office.

When the men arrived to meet the detectives posing as children, four of the men brought condoms while others offered to bring drugs, according to the sheriff's office. Many of the men sent explicit photos.

"A handful of these offenders traveled from throughout the state, as far south as Miami. My concern is that over half of them were from here in Sarasota County," Knight said of those arrested.

All four men from Bradenton were charged with use of a computer to solicit a child to commit a sex act and traveling to solicit a child to commit sex acts:

• Juan Mejia-Rodriguez, 37, is originally from Colombia, and is additionally charged with transmission of harmful materials to minors. The sheriff's office notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement of Mejia-Rodriguez's arrest and officials picked him up Saturday. He remained in ICE custody as of Tuesday. An undercover deputy using a "Grindr" account got a message from Mejia-Rodriguez. The conversation included an explicit photo Mejia-Rodriguez sent to the deputy, who he believed to be 14, according to a probable cause affidavit. On May 21, Mejia-Rodriguez met the undercover deputy in Sarasota County.
  
  
• Ubaldo Bautista, 42, is originally from Mexico City. ICE also was notified of his arrest but he was released on May 22 on a $1,000 bond. Bautista has prior arrests for battery, obstruction, driving while license suspended, DUI, shoplifting, giving a false name, failure to appear and violation of probation. An undercover agent using a "Meet Me" account got a message from Bautista under the username Zacarias Muelas and the conversation continued over text messages, according to a probable cause affidavit. On May 20, Bautista went to Sarasota County to meet with who he believed was a 14 year old.
  
  
• Justin Schwanger, 34, used a "Meet Me" account to start a conversation with an undercover deputy who he believed to be 14, which later moved to another app and was explicit, according to a probable cause affidavit. On May 23, Schwanger went to Sarasota County to meet the undercover deputy he believed to be a teenager. He previously was arrested on charges of burglary, theft, forgery and receiving stolen property.
• Brendan Goodman, 24, used a "Meet Me" account to communicate with an undercover deputy who he believed to be 14, according to a probable cause affidavit. Goodman and the deputy exchanged phone numbers and he said he would bring condoms with him. On May 24, he met the undercover deputy in Sarasota County and had condoms with him when he was arrested, the affidavit noted.

Sheriff Knight said the sheriff's office have focused on operations such as this for years. Since 2013, more than 100 predators have been removed from the streets of Sarasota County, Knight said. He added his office would continue to do operations like this and encouraged parents to keep an eye on their children on social media.

"You would think the frequency of Internet predator operations here in Sarasota County and surrounding jurisdictions would reduce the number of criminals prowling online for the sole purpose of sexually exploiting children," Knight said. "Unfortunately, for some reason, they still think it’s OK to disrupt our community and the children within it. Let this be a reminder for parents to stay cognizant of what their children are doing in this new age of technology. Remember to be a parent. It’s OK to ask questions."

The sheriff's office noted nine social media applications frequently used by children that can be utilized by those looking to exploit children.

• Bumble, a dating app
  
  
• Snapchat, a photo, video and chat app
  
  
• Kik, a messaging app
  
  
• LiveMe, a lives-streaming video app where users can earn "coins" to "pay" for photos
  
  
• Holla, a video chat app
  
  
• Whisper, an anonymous social network
  
  
• Ask.FM, an anonymous chat app
  
  
• Calculator%, a secret app used to hide photos, videos, files or browser history
  
  
• Hot or Not, a chat and "hook-up" app
  
  

This story was originally published May 29, 2018 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Former Disney employee one of 21 Florida men trying to have sex with teens, sheriff says."