INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The owner of an equity firm worth billions of dollars was among the 165 men accused of participating in sex acts during an undercover probe targeting several spas in Indian River and Orange counties.
Vero Beach police on Thursday announced the six-month undercover probe, 45 arrests and 171 warrants that had been issued for the prostitution acts. Among the faces shown on a screen was John Childs, the founder of J.W. Childs Associates, a private equity firm.
Childs, 77, of Vero Beach, is wanted on a charge of soliciting prostitution. He has not yet been arrested.
Law enforcement officials previously said they planned to arrest all 165 men on soliciting prostitution charges by the end of the week. The sex acts were part of a human trafficking ring that authorities believe profited well over $1 million and that stretched to Orlando, Palm Beach, Jupiter, New York and China.
Several ‘major players’ who operated the stings in Indian River and Orange counties have been arrested on charges of racketeering and prostitution, Vero Beach police said. Others remain at large.
The charge against Childs came a day before authorities announced accusations of soliciting prostitution against New England Patriots’ billionaire owner Robert Kraft. Kraft was suspected of engaging in sex acts at a massage parlor in Jupiter.
Childs is maintaining his innocence in the case.
In an interview with Bloomberg.com, Childs said that “he received no contact by the police department about this charge.” Childs also said the claims against him were false and that he obtained a lawyer.
Childs owns a home on Palm Road in Vero Beach, according to the Indian River County Property Appraisers site. The man was listed as having a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Affluence IQ, a Massachusetts database profiling website.
Childs’ equity firm specializes in retail, e-commerce and health care services expertise, according to the firm’s LinkedIn Page. The firm, based in Massachusetts, has invested $3.7 billion of equity capital in 50 businesses.
