Decidedly, Disney multiplies the controversies in recent weeks: we had recently mentioned the inaction of the firm in the face of a homophobic bill passed in Florida. Well, it is again in the American state that the firm is under the spotlight, this time for a much more serious reason: four employees have been arrested as part of an investigation into human trafficking. .
A human trafficking ring dismantled in Florida
If some good news come to brighten up the news, it has not been the happiest lately. Between the Covid-19 pandemic which is on the rise again and the war in Ukraine, is now added a dark case of human trafficking. Fortunately, the network that raged in Florida was recently dismantled, according to state authorities. Indeed, the Polk County police launched, on March 8, operation “March Sadness 2”, consisting of the infiltration of members of the police forces within this traffic.
The operation lasted six days and resulted in the arrest of no less than 108 people, including pimps, prostitutes and child predators. To obtain evidence, some police officers communicated online with the suspects to obtain evidence. A success, the county Sheriff particularly welcoming the fact that the arrest “of a human trafficker” and of “four child predators” perform the operation on their own “interesting”.
Four Disney employees among those arrested
When the case came to light, many netizens were particularly shocked by the fact that four of those arrested are Disney employees, a firm associated with entertainment and children. Among these employees, Xavier Jackson, a 27-year-old lifeguard working at the Disney Resort in Polynesia. He was caught in the act, sincehe allegedly sent sexually explicit images and messages to an undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl.
The other Disney employees worked as restaurateurs, computer scientists, or even software developers within the firm. And if we obviously understand that their misdeeds are all the more shocking since they worked for the firm with the big ears, let us emphasize all the same that the trafficking of human beings is just as reprehensible, regardless of the profession exercised. As the Polk County Sheriff recalls, “where there is prostitution, there is exploitation, disease, dysfunction and broken families”. It is now up to the authorities to separate the operators and the exploited of this dark network, among the 108 people arrested.