A Walt Disney World employee named Frederick Pohl, Jr. has been accused of trying to arrange an encounter in which he would sexually abuse an 8-year-old girl, according to an NBC News report. Pohl, 40, allegedly sent explicit images of himself to who he thought was the girl, but turned out to be an undercover agent, and was arranging to meet her at a hotel in Orlando.
He was arrested and detained on Tuesday and charged with transferring obscene materials to a minor and attempting to entice a minor, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a written statement. Pohl was arrested as soon as he arrived at a Days Inn in Orlando. He was in possession of condoms and a child-sized pink dress at the time of his arrest.
According to the criminal complaint, the Disney employee had engaged in “online chat communications” with who he believed was an 8-year-old child and her father, but he had actually been chatting with an undercover federal agent.
Pohl is a Clermont, FL, resident and worked at the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. (Disney has not commented on the matter, yet.) Heavy reported that Pohl was already a convicted felon and was previously investigated by Homeland Security Investigations for a similar infraction. In 2004, he was convicted of check fraud, as well as grand theft, a felony, and sentenced probation both times. In 2006, Pohl spent time in jail after his probation was revoked. The probation violation came after he was convicted for selling alcohol to a minor, according to court documents. In 2007, Pohl reportedly chatted online with a Vancouver Police Department detective who was posing as a 13-year-old Canadian girl and attempted to set up a meeting with the girl. Pohl also sent the agent child pornography via Yahoo Messenger, but he was not arrested as a result of the investigation.
Heavy also published the full affidavit, which includes a chat log between Pohl, who used the pseudonym “Mike,” and the undercover agent, where you can see evidence that Pohl was sending sexually explicit messages and arranging to meet with the child for the purpose of a "sexual encounter."
If convicted of the charges, Pohl faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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Source: Refinery29 – Tiffany Diane Tso