News and Investigations

Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies and the Florida Department of Corrections probation officers conducted a Halloween sexual offender/predator compliance initiative on during the month of October, 2024. The operation was aimed at ensuring compliance with Florida's registration laws for convicted sex offenders and sex predators (FSS 775.21 & FSS 943.0435) within Polk County.*

Operational Information
There are 1,443 Sexual Offenders, 159 of which are sexual predators, registered in Polk County. These offenders and predators are checked every quarter by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to ensure they are in compliance with Florida’s sexual offender/predator registration laws. The state requires checks at least once a year. 

“I am proud of our deputies and probation officers for their hard work to ensure that these sex offenders and predators are complying with their court-mandated registrations and requirements. This is time consuming, but absolutely necessary. Our simple message is this, if you’ve been placed on the sex offender/predator registry, we will keep track of you, and we will hold you accountable for any violations, period.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff

Sexual offenders/predators on probation are supervised by the Department of Corrections, and their probation stipulates they are prohibited from engaging in Halloween activities such as having contact with children, distributing candy/treats, or having Halloween decorations. 

Over 160 offenders/predators were contacted and checked during this initiative. 13 total arrests were made. One warrant was issued. 45 searches were completed, resulting in five offenders being arrested for possessing unauthorized cellphones with internet access and/or social media accounts. These cellphones have been seized and are currently being examined for unregistered social media accounts.

Warrant
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has issued a warrant for the arrest of Daniel Soto (1/27/1984). On July 31, 2024, Soto was arrested on drug charges while driving a vehicle. PCSO detectives were notified of his arrest, and they found Soto failed to register the vehicle he was arrested in, and a Facebook profile as required by law, and that he provided false information during a sexual offender registration. He was convicted in 2009 of sexual abuse of a minor under 14-years old in Monroe County, New York. 

Soto bonded out of the Polk County Jail on July 31, 2024 after his drug arrest. We are actively searching for this suspect and encourage anyone with any information to contact the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, or Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-888-400 TIPS (8477).

Arrests
Patrick Diello (7/12/1962) – Arrested on two counts of failure to register, and violation of probation on October 2, 2024. During a compliance check, PCSO detectives found an email account and Facebook profile under the name “Suzy Diello” that were not registered with FDLE. Diello was convicted of sodomy on a victim under 12-years old in Oneida, County New York in 1993.

Roger Durrance (6/14/1973) – Charged with three counts of failure to comply with sexual offender registration laws on October 31, 2024. Detectives found an unregistered Snapchat, TikTok, and Gmail accounts in his name during a compliance check. Durrance was convicted of unlawful sexual contact with a 16/17-year old in 2001 in Polk County.

Benjamin Frederick (6/9/1981) – Arrested for failure to register and violation of probation on May 4, and October 15, respectively. He was arrested for failure to register, and while in custody, he used the jail phone to contact a minor. He was additionally charged violation of probation for this incident. He has been charged with violating his probation by contacting minors twice since his arrest in May 2024. Frederick was convicted of sexual battery on a victim between 12 and 15-years old in 2008 in Polk County.

Montana Generi (9/16/1992) – Charged with three counts of failure to comply with sexual registration laws on October 2, 2024 while in custody. During a battery investigation in December 2023, PCSO detectives discovered the suspect had failed to register his residence, where the battery occurred, with FDLE. He fled the scene, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was apprehended in Davidson County, Tennessee and extradited to Polk County in July 2024. He was charged with failure to comply for not registering his addresses in Polk County or Tennessee with state law enforcement. Generi was convicted of gross sexual imposition in Cuyahoga County, Ohio in 2012.

Daniel Gipp (3/5/1973) – Arrested for battery and charged with two counts of failure to comply with sexual offender registration laws on October 16, and 25, 2024 respectively. During a battery investigation on October 16, 2024 detectives discovered that Gipp failed to register a change of residence and update his FL identification as required. Gipp was convicted of sexual battery on a victim under 16-years old in 1997 in Pinellas County, Florida.

Bentley Hawkins (4/16/1964) – Arrested for violation of probation on October 28, 2024. During a compliance check, probation officers discovered a second, unregistered phone in Hawkins’ possession. Both phones had internet access, and the second/unregistered phone was connected to a phone number that was not registered with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s sex offender registry. More charges are anticipated pending further investigation. Hawkins was convicted in 2019 for travelling to meet a minor to commit unlawful sexual conduct and attempted lewd battery of a child in Polk County.

Bryan Hawkins (5/31/1965) – Arrested on two counts of failure to comply with sexual offender registry laws on October 20, 2024. He was arrested at a hotel in Lakeland for failure to report change of residence and failure to update his driver’s license. He told detectives he was residing in the hotel after being kicked out of his home on August 15, 2024. Hawkins was convicted of sending harmful material to a minor, travelling to meet a minor to commit unlawful sexual conduct and use of a computer to engage in sexual conduct with a minor in Lake County, Florida in 2016. 

Jacob Jackson (3/9/1988) – Charged with violation of probation on October 31, 2024. During a probation search, he was found to be in possession of a cellphone that has internet access, a violation of his probation. Jackson was convicted of using a computer to lure a child to engage in sexual conduct and possession of a photo of a child engaging in sexual acts in Polk County in 2021.

David Medina (8/19/1964) – Arrested for failure to register change of residence on October 31, 2024. During a compliance check, it was discovered that he failed to update the address on his driver’s license. Varner was convicted in 2006 of committing lewd acts with a victim under 16-years old in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.

Reginald Smith (7/21/1987) – Charged with failure to comply with sexual offender registration laws on October 2, 2024. During a compliance check, detectives determined he failed to register a change of residence and to update the address on his driver’s license. Smith was convicted of sexual battery of a victim between 12 and 15-years old in 2007, and again in 2008, in Orange County, Florida.

Troy Taapken (10/19/1980) – Arrested for violation of probation on October 28, 2024. During a compliance check, a probation officer found an unregistered TikTok account on Taapken’s cellphone. Taapken was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim 13 to 16-years old in 2016 in Pekin County, Illinois.

Michael Varner (1/18/1973) – Charged with violation of probation and three counts of failure to register as a sexual offender on October 31, 2024. During a compliance check by SVRT detectives, unregistered TikTok and Snapchat accounts were found on Varner’s cellphone. He also failed to register his vehicle with FDLE. He is on probation out of Hillsborough County for failure to register change of residence in 2023. Varner was convicted of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes in King County, Washington in 2021.

A non-sex offender was also arrested during the investigation:
Judiel Gonzalez (8/24/1961) – Was charged with violation of probation on October 31, 2024. Gonzalez was not designated as a sex offender, but was prohibited from possessing pornographic materials as part of his probation. During a probation search, adult pornographic images were found on his cellphone.

*Convicted sex offenders and sex predators are required by Florida law to register and maintain updated information regarding the following identifying information: name; social security number; age; race; sex; date of birth; height; weight; tattoos or other identifying marks; hair and eye color; photograph; address of legal residence (or temporary residence); electronic mail addresses; Internet identifiers and each Internet identifier's corresponding website homepage or application software name; home telephone numbers and cellular telephone numbers; employment information; driver's license or Florida ID information; the make, model, color, vehicle identification number (VIN), and license tag number of all vehicles owned.