Operation March Sadness Human Trafficking Sting Leads to Arrest of 108

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested 108 people in a six-day human trafficking sting called “Operation March Sadness 2,” which began on March 8 in Florida.

Four Disney employees and a retired judge were among those arrested, police say. Operation March Sadness 2 focused on online prostitution advertisements to find any victims being trafficked and forced into prostitution. Authorities also identified people seeking prostitutes and adults inappropriately communicating with children.

“The arrests of a human trafficker and four child predators alone makes [Operation March Sadness 2] worthwhile,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Wednesday. “Where there is prostitution, there is exploitation, disease, dysfunction, and broken families.”

Undercover detectives working on Operation March Sadness 2 communicated with the suspects online and arranged meetup locations where they arrested them. The sheriff’s office said anti-trafficking organizations also helped by speaking with prostitutes and offering them services and counseling.

Police arrested Tiffany Nash of Orlando, Florida, 32, for human trafficking, deriving proceeds from prostitution, and three drug charges. Nash was arrested at a location after allegedly threatening a woman if she failed to prostitute herself.

Four alleged child predators were arrested for communicating online with an undercover detective who posed as a 13-year-old or 14-year-old during Operation March Sadness 2.

Xavier Jackson, 27, of Kissimmee, Florida, is one of those suspects. He worked as a lifeguard at the Polynesian Resort for the Walt Disney Company. 

Jackson is charged with three counts of transmission of material harmful to a minor and one count of unlawful communication. Jackson is suspected of allegedly speaking to a 14-year-old and sending explicit photos of himself. According to Judd, Jackson boasted about being a lifeguard at the Disney property, where there are many children. 

Three more suspects also stated they worked for Disney.

Shubham Malave, 27, is on visa citizenship from India and worked as a software developer for Disney. Following the success of Operation March Sadness 2, he is charged with two counts of soliciting prostitutes.

Wilkason Fidele, 24, who had worked at the Cosmic Restaurant at Walt Disney World’s Tomorrowland for four years, is charged with soliciting prostitutes.

Ralph Leese, 45, who worked in IT for Disney for nearly four years, was arrested for allegedly soliciting prostitution.

“We protected some little girl someplace that was groomed or potentially groomed by these evil, deviant criminals, thugs, that’s all they are. They’re dangerous people,” Sheriff Judd said of the suspects 

According to Yahoo News, the Walt Disney Company stated that Malave does not work for the company, and the other three suspects have been placed on unpaid leave.

Among the suspects from Operation March Sadness 2 is Daniel Peters, 66, of Palos Hills, Illinois. He was also charged with soliciting prostitution. Peters is a retired Cook County, Illinois judge and a former special assistant for legal affairs at the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

“The online prostitution industry enables traffickers and victimizes those who are being trafficked. Our goal is to identify victims, offer them help, and find and arrest those who are profiting from the exploitation of human beings,” Sheriff Judd said in a statement.