A Walt Disney World employee named Frederick Pohl, Jr. has been arrested for 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 the girl, and was arranging to meet her and her father at a hotel in Orlando, FL. Except they turned out to be an undercover federal agent.
Pohl was 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. He was arrested as soon as he arrived at a Days Inn in Orlando. He had with him condoms and a child-sized pink dress at the time of his arrest.
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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 was actually the agent.
Pohl is a Clermont, FL, resident and worked at the Magic Kingdom theme park. (Disney has not commented on the matter.) Heavy.com reported that Pohl was already a convicted felon and was previously investigated by Homeland Security Investigations for a similar case. 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. In 2004, he was convicted of check fraud, as well as grand theft, a felony, and sentenced to 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 In 2006, Pohl spent time in jail after his probation was revoked.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.
Heavy.com also published the full affidavit, which includes a nauseating chat log between Pohl, who used the pseudonym “Mike,” and the undercover agent, in which you can see evidence that Pohl was sending sexually explicit messages and arranging to meet with the child and her father for the purpose of a "sexual encounter."
If convicted of the charges, Pohl faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.