Douglas da Silva, 46, of Windermere, Orange County, Florida, United States is an Uber Eats driver. He and his wife own a house cleaning business.
In 2020, da Silva moved to the U.S. His home country was not revealed.
Currently, da Silva is awaiting confirmation of his green card. He is accused of communicating with who he thought was an adult who had access to a girl aged 15.
During the conversation, da Silva allegedly asked if the purported girl was a virgin and said he wanted to have sex with her twice within an hour. He agreed to pay $250 to have unprotected sex with the purported girl.
Unbeknownst to da Silva, he was actually communicating with an undercover detective. The Uber Eats driver was arrested when he arrived at the undercover location where he thought he was going to meet the purported girl.
Including da Silva, six suspects showed up to the undercover location. They were all booked into the Polk County Jail in Bartow, Polk County, Florida.
It was part of a sting operation held from September 19-26, 2023, which involved the sheriff’s departments of four Florida counties namely Hillsborough, Lake, Orange and Polk and the police departments of three Florida cities namely Haines, Lakeland and Tampa. During the operation, detectives posed as children or guardians of children on mobile apps, online dating sites and social media platforms to investigate adults trying to meet children online for sex.
Da Silva was charged with human trafficking, traveling to meet a minor for sex, use of computer to solicit guardian of child for sex and use of two-way communication device to commit a felony. He has yet to post bond.
CONAN Daily 