Why Disney? Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who oversaw some of these investigations, explained why child predators would choose the Magic Kingdom as a place of employment. According to police and court records, custodial manager Cedric Cuthbert was caught downloading child porn on a Disney work computer, giftshop employee Paul Fazio was convicted for downloading “multiple scenes of nude prepubescent children engaging in sexual activity with adults,” and security guard William Marrero-Maldonado was charged with seven counts of promoting videos and photographs of the “sexual performance of a child.” Other Disney employees were found to have committed child sex crimes using the Internet. Kingsolver denied the charges Treaster admitted that he had molested a 15-year-old boy a few weeks prior to his arrest. And Allen Treaster, a concierge at the park’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, went to meet a 14-year-old boy to “fulfill a fantasy” of being a “Big Teddy Bear for younger chaser.” In all three cases, the men were met and then arrested by police, who had set up the trap to catch child predators in the Orlando region. Joel Torres, another Disney employee, allegedly brought condoms with him to have sex with a 14-year-old child. Robert Kingsolver, who oversaw ride repairs at Disney World, enticed someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex in a private residence. In one case, police set up a sting operation that nabbed three Disney employees who believed they were soliciting sex from minors. In 2014, reporters at CNN published a bombshell six-month investigation that discovered at least 35 Disney employees had been arrested for sex crimes against children, attempting to meet minors for sex, and possession of child pornography over the previous eight years. In recent weeks, the company has entered the political debate about Florida’s Parental Rights in Education legislation and sought to establish itself as a moral arbiter on children’s education and sexuality.īut behind its meticulously curated self-image, Disney has had a long-standing problem with child predators gaining employment within the company and exploiting minors. According to company lore, the animation studio was founded by a wise and kindly father figure, and its theme parks are “the happiest place on Earth” for kids. Porn on the device your kid uses might be a sign.The Walt Disney Company has long presented itself as the voice for America’s children.Phone calls and gifts from unknown people are possible signs.If your kid withdraws and becomes secretive around a device (hiding the screen, clicking from a window suddenly), it could be an indicator.
#SEXUAL PREDATORS OFFLINE#
Once they've selected someone, they may begin the grooming phase, which often involves friending the target's contacts, engaging in increasingly personal conversations to build trust, taking the conversation to other platforms (like instant messaging), requesting pictures, and finally requesting offline contact.In contrast, some predators engage in "bunny hunting," which is the process of picking a potential victim for "grooming": They'll look at social media posts and public chats to learn about the kid first.Some predators initiate sexual talk or request pictures immediately and back off if refused.Most reveal that they're older - which is especially appealing to 12-to-15-year-olds who are most often targeted. Only 5 percent of online predators pretend they're kids.