POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A Tampa porn star and a 16-year-old Orlando girl are among the 80 arrested by Polk County deputies in an undercover online prostitution sting.
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Deputies conducted the investigation from Dec. 12-15 in Polk County by placing ads on Internet website Backpage.com. 80 suspects were arrested on charges including soliciting for prostitution, soliciting another to commit a lewd act, deriving support/proceeds from prostitution and aiding/abetting prostitution.
24 of the arrests were men who were soliciting, 33 were prostitutes, 13 were people who were aiding and abetting prostitution or deriving proceeds from prostitution and 10 others were arrested for a variety of drug and other charges, according to a release.
"Prostitution is not a victimless crime. From the spread of disease and destruction of families to human trafficking, prostitution is bad for our community," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "We arrested a 16-year-old girl from Orlando on Saturday for prostitution—she was driven to our undercover location (along with a 26 year old female prostitute) by a 20 year old man. The teen is clearly a victim of sex trafficking. We arrested the driver for deriving proceeds from prostitution and we are going to do everything we can to get her help and find out who is involved in trafficking this teenager."
According to deputies, also arrested were:
- 32-year-old Justin Bachand of Lakeland, a Florida Department of Corrections Probation Officer who solicited an undercover female detective for sex.
- 50-year-old Mark Graffrath of Lakeland, who was arrested during two previous PCSO prostitution operations.
- 47-year-old Richard Sierra of Altamonte Springs is an attorney for Kosto & Rotella Law Firm in the Orlando area. Deputies said Sierra attempted to conduct a pat down for wires. He was charged with soliciting prostitution and assault.
- 43-year-old Christopher Havlicek of Palm Beach Gardens is the Managing Director/Palm Beach Market Manager for JP Morgan Chase Bank.
- 50-year-old Anthony Stevens of Groveland is a Special Education Teacher at Groveland Elementary in Lake County.
- 30-year-old Terra Webb & 43-year-old Charles Kinsey arrived with a 3-1/2 month old baby. DCF was notified and the baby was turned over to their custody. Webb had negotiated money for sex, she was arrested for soliciting prostitution and Kinsey was arrested for Child Neglect/Endangerment.
- 54-year-old William Higbee of St. Petersburg arrived at the undercover location with a bag of domination sex toys and a bottle of vodka. He was arrested for soliciting for prostitution.
- 35-year-old Toni Sella of Tampa said she was a porn star. She says her stage name is Ella Meadows. She was charged with soliciting prostitution.
To read the full list of arrestees, click here.
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