A Disney World employee was among 12 men nabbed by Florida law enforcement for allegedly soliciting children for sex online, officials said.
The suspects, between the ages of 20 and 67, are facing a total of 49 felony charges following a two-week-long undercover investigation dubbed “Operation Child Protector II,” the Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.
Among those arrested is 30-year-old Zachary Hudson, who was employed as a bus driver at Disney World, cops said.
Between June 4 and 5, Hudson allegedly exchanged online messages with an undercover detective posing as a 15-year-old girl.
The detective asked Hudson if he had a problem with her only being 15, to which he replied as long as “my being older doesn’t bother you,” according to authorities. He later reportedly told her “age is just a number.”
The conversation moved to text messaging, where police say Hudson described the sexual acts he desired to do to her. He also sent a nude photo to the girl, cops said.
“What would an operation be — either a pornography investigation or predator operation or human trafficking operation — without a Disney employee? We always have a Disney employee,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told WKMG-TV.
Police obtained a warrant for Hudson’s arrest and he was taken into custody in Orlando.
He appeared to be in his Disney World uniform when he was arrested, a mugshot obtained by the outlet shows.
He’s charged with one count of use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony and one count of transmitting material harmful to a minor and booked in the Orange County jail.