Sheriff Judd: Latest News

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd gives a press conference highlighting the arrests from 'Operation Cyber Guardian II.' WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - A total of 13 men were arrested in the latest Polk County undercover operation targeting suspects who made attempts to "sexually abuse, groom, and corrupt" children, said Sheriff Grady Judd. In addition to the agency's team, Chris Hansen from ‘To Catch a Predator’ worked alongside investigators.Sheriff Judd said three suspects believed they were speaking to the guardian or parent of a child who wanted to teach their kid to have sex or arrange for the suspect to meet the minor, officials said. Others either traveled to have sex with children, had sexually-explicit conversations, or sent "harmful material." It turned out the person on the end of those conversations was an undercover detective.Among those arrested were people who worked at Disney, Publix, and Amazon, along with a man who installs internet safety programs in schools — the very same firewall blocking systems means to protect children from sexual predators."We will continue to conduct proactive operations like this to search out these evil predators before they get to our children," Sheriff Judd said.

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - A recent undercover online child predator investigation resulted in the arrest of a dozen suspects in Polk County.Investigators from the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Auburndale Police Department, and Winter Haven Police Department worked together on "Operation Child Protector II," which focused on finding those who prey upon children online.The sheriff's office said 12 suspects were arrested for a total of 49 felonies. According to Polk Sheriff Grady Judd, nine of the 12 had no criminal history.Four of the suspects traveled to an undercover location to have sex with who they thought were teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 15, only to instead find detectives waiting to arrest them.RELATED: Electronic-sniffing dog helps make pedophilia arrest in MexicoThe other eight suspects had warrants for their arrests after investigators said they groomed and sent sexually explicit content to who they thought were 13, 14, and 15-year-old girls.

DAVENPORT, Fla. - Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said a nearly 3-year-old child looked more like a 3-month-old after being starved to death by her parents.The child's parents, 37-year-old Regis Johnson and 35-year-old Arhonda Tillman, have been arrested and charged with neglect. Sheriff Judd said more charges could be filed. Arhonda Tillman told investigators she is 4-months pregnant with another child. There were no other children in the home when deputies found the little girl.The sheriff's office said Johnson made the 911 call when he realized the child wasn't breathing.

LAKELAND, Fla. - A chance encounter with a former Marine obsessed with delusions of child sex trafficking ultimately led to the massacre of four members of a Lakeland family, including a mother holding her baby boy, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.The sheriff offered one final update Thursday morning on the shooting rampage that left the family dead with the exception of the sole survivor, an 11-year-old who was shot multiple times.

LAKELAND, Fla. - Four people were killed, including an infant, and an 11-year-old girl was injured by a self-described survivalist on meth early Sunday morning, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.It happened around 4:30 a.m. at North Socrum Loop Road near Fulton Green Road in unincorporated Polk County. According to Sheriff Judd, a woman called 911 around 7:30 p.m.