Polk announces undercover child porn arrests
WINTER HAVEN (FOX 13) - Sheriff Grady Judd is calling them “The Dirty Dozen” because of their criminal charges as well as their number. His deputies just arrested 12 guys and charged them with possession of child pornography. Some of the suspects now face more than 100 counts.
“There is nothing that I can say that adequately expresses my disgust for these human beings, if you want to call them that,” said Judd.
Detectives say several of the suspects would try to impress other guys on the internet who have the same interest.
He held up Joe Figueroa, 37, as a case in point.
“He was bragging that some of his extended family members were being sexually abused by him,’ said Judd.
Judd says Calvin Barnes, Jr., exhibited similar behavior. To apparently increase his status among other child pornography collectors, he would tell them that he was actually molesting young family members.
Judd says he would take it even further.
“He was putting normal childhood pictures of them on line, and bragging to his buddies,” said Judd.
Detectives investigated the claims of both men, but found no evidence to support them.
Other suspects that were just arrested include two former Disney employees, a former college president, and a former teacher.
Judd says many of the men led double lives.
“Even on the outside when they look like they’re outstanding citizens, they have a deep dark side that is perverse and dangerous.”
Complete list of arrests:
- Paul Robak, 60, of 31013 Little Valley Way in Lakeland
- Daniel Crawford Jr., 36, of 1771 Williamsburg Drive in Bartow
- Ronald Usiewicz, 69, of 2363 Palm Tree Drive in Kissimmee
- Anthony Schulte, 30, of 208 Raymond Ave in Frostproof
- Miguel Ruiz, 41, of 50989 U.S. Highway 27, Lot 88 in Davenport
- Kyle Ghita, 28, of 1016 Pink Apartment Road in Davenport
- Jose Figueroa, 37, of 6456 Evergreen Park Drive in Lakeland
- Andrew Williamson, 39, of 5065 1st Street Northwest in Lakeland
- David Sorensen, 40, of 410 2nd Street SW #B in Mulberry
- Ronald Desmarais, 68, of 2205 Hemlock Lane in Lake Alfred
- John Escobar, 26, of 1880 N. Crystal Lake Drive, Unit #54 in Lakeland
- Calvin Barnes, Jr. of 4115 Orange Ave in Mulberry
According to the agency, other arrests included:
- Charlie Lee Cook Jr., 29, of 5791 Woodruff Way in Lakeland was charged with transmission of harmful materials to a minor after he offered to send nude images to a 15-year-old, detectives said.
- Jerret Alan Carter, 22, of 2109 King Ave in Lakeland was charged with violation of probation. He was previously arrested for lewd and lascivious conduct in 2016.
- Shannon Wright, 42, of 612 Hendry in Fort Meade was arrested for failure to comply with sex offender registration, after sending “inappropriate messages to a minor,” according a press release.
- Michael Longoria, 38, of 5013 Shepperd Road in Lakeland, as arrested by Hillsborough County deputies on a warrant for two counts failure to comply with sex offender laws in Polk County.
Polk County deputies said there are warrants are out of the following:
- Marvin Hewitt, 31, of 2012 Avenue H. in Winter Haven is currently at large and has a warrant for failing to comply with sex offender laws.
- Derricko Williams, 41, of 400 Maultsby Lane in Lake Alfred is currently at large and has a warrant for failure to comply with sex offender laws.