Disney employee, 7 others rack up over 1,200 charges in ‘horrible’ Polk County child porn sting: PCSO

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is searching for children who may have been sexually victimized after eight men were arrested in a Polk County anti-child pornography operation Thursday.

Those arrested include a Disney employee, a photographer and retail employees.

The eight men face 1,280 felony charges between them, according to the sheriff’s office. The men were arrested during the PCSO Computer Crimes Unit’s “Operation May’s Monsters,” which “focused on identifying those who possessed and distributed child pornography.”

“These videos and photographs are some of the most horrific my detectives have ever seen – images of children being forced to expose their genitalia and raped,” Sheriff Grady Judd wrote in a news release. “Each time one of these monsters upload and share child pornography, they are feeding a child exploitation pipeline and they are victimizing children over and over again.”

Judd said he wants to remind parents that it’s important “to get all in your child’s business” and to check their phones, gaming platforms and social media to monitor who they’re communicating with online.

Sheriff Grady Judd said deputies began investigating 58-year-old Stefan Young after a concerned citizen found his “photography business” on Craigslist. PCSO said Young owned the business “Enchanting Boudoir,” and said he would take photos of “people in their underwear.” The citizen told deputies Young also took pictures like this for children.

Judd said Young claimed he took photos of children as young as 13 and bragged he took pictures of the children with their parent’s permission.

Another man that was arrested was 49-year-old William Cuevas, who has two young children of his own. Sheriff Judd said Cuevas’ wife was “horrified” when she found out what he was arrested for. PCSO said no photos of his children were found in the child porn he obtained.

Disney employee Paul Viel was also arrested in the sting. Judd said the 40-year-old worked at Cosmic Ray’s restaurant at Disney World. PCSO said Viel specifically moved from Indiana to Florida to work at the amusement park.

Viel had 540 counts of child pornography that ranged from newborns to 8-year-olds. According to Judd, Viel’s wife asked, “Did I marry a monster?”

Two other men arrested worked at Best Buy, Ried Donaldson, 24, and Shayne Osborne, 33. Sheriff Judd said Osborne confessed to having child porn but said it was a “mistake” because he was looking for bestiality photographs.” According to deputies, the 33-year-old had 200 images of children between 1 to 13 years old.

Ryan Thomas, 39, of Haynes City, was also arrested in the sting. As was David Sparks, a 66-year-old retired customer service worker. Deputies found 350 counts of child porn on a CD. According to PCSO, the images showed children between 3 and 12 months old. Sparks’ wife of 10 years

Deputies said Sparks’ wife of 10 years is a retired child protective services worker. PCSO said she had no knowledge of his doings and was mortified because she spent “years and years protecting children.”

Lastly, Judd announced the arrest of a Publix worker who made potato salad at the store. Sheriff Judd said Jay Homuth, 52, was investigated a while back, but they didn’t establish enough probable cause to arrest him. According to authorities, Homuth carried micro SD cards in his wallet.

“These are all filthy individuals,” Sheriff Judd said. “We’re going to do our very best to send them to prison for a very long time.”

During a press conference, Sheriff Judd said the investigation is still ongoing as all the men’s devices have “not been completely forensically examined.” He added that additional charges are expected to be filed.

“We know there are victims out there that we’re unaware of. We always strive to identify the victims in the photographs, and deputies will continue to investigate,” Judd said.

According to PCSO, deputies obtained 1,276 images of child pornography content during the operation. 

“As I close out today, here’s a warning to those in the community – we’re coming for you. If you’re a child predator, if you’re involved in child pornography, you are at the top of our list of people to investigate and arrest. You’re not going to victimize the children,” Sheriff Judd said as he concluded the press conference.

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