WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – An Osceola County School Board official was among 114 people arrested in Polk County in an undercover sex sting dubbed "Operation Not So Silent Night."
Deputies said Matthew Phillips, of St. Cloud, was arrested on charges of offering to engage in lewdness and battery. Phillips, director of elementary curriculum for the Osceola County School Board, arrived at an undercover location to have sex with a prostitute, deputies said.
"Not only did he come seeking the services of a prostitute he came seeking the services of two prostitutes. And when he came in, he said he needed to do a cup check and he reached up and grabbed one of our undercover detectives," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said the six-day undercover operation, from Dec. 8 to 13, focused on people who advertised prostitution services in online ads, and identified victims of human trafficking.
Female undercover detectives posted fictitious ads online, and male undercover detectives responded to ads posted online by others, officials said. Two suspects traveled to an undercover location to have sex with minors, deputies said.
Out of the 114 arrests, 37 were from Orange County.
Next door in Lake County, 10 people from the area were arrested.
Six people were from Seminole county.
Arrests spanned from the tip of Florida in Pensacola to Miami and Key West.
More than a dozen were from out of state.
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Sheriff Judd said the availability of social networks creates a breeding ground for prostitution and human trafficking.
"All of these arrests originated from social media. Every one of them. That is the new way," said Sheriff Judd.
Deputies are still searching for two men who they say got away, Travis Mays and Debraione Fulmore.
Sheriff Judd said a $5,000 reward is offered for information leading to their arrests.
"We are exceptionally pleased that we were able to potentially identify four victims of human trafficking, which is the goal of this operation," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "We are thrilled that we arrested two men who prey upon children, preventing them from doing so. We are extremely disappointed that we arrested a high-ranking official within the Osceola County School Board, whose occupation focuses on teaching and mentoring children."
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