A former Polk County Sheriff's Office Animal Control Officer, two Disney employees and a first grade teacher are among the nine suspects arrested in a child pornography bust during the month of July.
Polk County Sheriff's Office detectives, along with partners from the Central Florida ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) task force, served search warrants and arrested 9 men during their undercover investigation, "Operation Child Shield 3," which focused on promotion, possession, and distribution of child pornography.
The following suspects were arrested:
Siul Pastor, 31, former PCSO Animal Control Officer from Lake Wales
Charges: 3 counts possession of child pornography
Juan Berrios, 64, first grade teacher at Palmetto Elementary School in Poinciana from Kissimmee
Charges: 35 counts possession of child pornography
Polk County Public Schools issued a statement regarding the arrest of Palmetto Elementary Teacher Juan Berrios:
“We are taking swift action and cooperating fully with law enforcement in their investigation,” said Superintendent Jacqueline M. Byrd. “The allegations against this employee are disturbing, and such behavior will not be tolerated. This does not represent Polk County Public Schools, its administrators, staff and dedicated teachers. I have reviewed information from the Sheriff’s Office. He is being suspended without pay, and I will recommend that his employment be terminated at the July 26th meeting of the Polk County School Board.”
Juan Berrios’ annual salary is $63,251. His hire date is Aug. 20, 2007.
Juan Berrios does not have prior disciplinary action in his personnel file. There have been no past internal investigations on this employee.
Prior to arriving in Polk County, Juan Berrios was an educator in Puerto Rico and Massachusetts.
His work history with Polk County Public Schools includes:
7/02/2010 - Teacher, First Grade, Palmetto Elementary
9/29/2009 - Teacher, Third Grade, Palmetto Elementary
9/17/2009 - Teacher, First Grade, Palmetto Elementary
8/20/2007 - Teacher, First Grade, Lake Marion Creek Elementary
Robert "Gary" Willis, 70, retired electrical engineer from Lockheed Martin from Davenport
Charges: 36 counts promotion of child pornography, 2 counts possession of child pornography
Thursk Seepersad, 27, unemployed from Lakeland
Charges: 4 counts possession of child pornography
Guillermo "Will" Torres III, 29, Publix employee from Lakeland
Charges: 100 counts possession of child pornography
Angel Rivera-Maldonado, 44, housekeeping employee at Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge, from Auburndale
Charges: 60 counts possession of child pornography
Terry Drawdy, 46, from Lakeland
Charges: 1 count possession of child pornography, 1 count use of computer to seduce a child, 1 count use of a two-way communication device to commit felony
James Ballone, 53, owner of J&K Cleaning Service, from Bartow
Charges: 65 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced
Sheriff Judd and Superintendent Jacqueline M. Byrd will brief the media of these arrests at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 14 at the Sheriff's Operations Center in Winter Haven.
