Grady Judd, ex-deputy sued over arrest of Polk County man on child porn charges in 2020

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd faces a lawsuit from a man arrested in 2020 on charges of possessing and promoting child pornography.

A lawyer for Edgardo Acevedo Cancela, formerly a Davenport resident, filed the suit Tuesday in federal court in Tampa. The complaint lists seven counts against Judd or former Deputy Sean Jones for federal and state violations of civil rights. The claims include false arrest, malicious prosecution, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Cancela’s ex-wife, Cassandra Escobar, is included as a plaintiff.

Cancela was one of 16 men arrested in 2020 as part of an operation the Polk County Sheriff’s Office began the previous year, based on tips from the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children, about suspects downloading and sharing images of child pornography, The Ledger reported at the time. In a news conference, Judd said the suspects shared images of children as young as 1 year old.

Cancela, 42, was a nurse at Osceola Regional Medical Center and had children ages 10 and 13. After his arrest, the Florida Department of Children and Families was called to investigate because of the presence of the children, Judd said at the time.

“He’s a deviant and he’s dangerous,” Judd said of Cancela at the news conference in July 2020.

The lawsuit claims that Jones arrested Cancela despite having no evidence he possessed child pornography. Court records show that the State Attorney’s Office for the 10^th Judicial Circuit filed a no-prosecution order, dismissing the case, on Oct. 3, 2022. The order stated that subsequent to the filing, the state obtained additional evidence and determined that the charges could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

As Cancela awaited a potential trial, his pre-trial release agreement barred him from living with his family or seeing his children, said Daniel Faherty, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit. Faherty said he did not know how long that prohibition lasted.

Cancela was immediately fired from his job after the arrest and was unable to find new employment for an extended period, Faherty said.

Jones obtained a search warrant for Cancela on May 20, 2020, the complaint says. The warrant, identifying Escobar as the subscriber to an account purportedly tied to a suspect internet protocol address, sought the seizure and inspection of computers and electronic devices. The warrant mentioned Cancela only as co-owner and resident of the Davenport home and owner of a vehicle parked there, the complaint says.

PCSO served the warrant early on May 21, 2020, when Cancela and Escobar were at work and their children were home, the complaint says. The search found no evidence of child pornography. A child protective investigator interviewed the children, who said that no one had inappropriately touched them or behaved improperly toward them, the complaint says.

Cancela learned of the search and drove to his home, calling a lawyer on the way to seek advice, the complaint says. The original warrant did not give permission to search Cancela’s and Escobar’s phones, but a judge issued a new warrant that day authorizing those searches.

Jones asked for the code to unlock Cancela’s phone, and Cancela said he wanted to call a lawyer for advice. Jones refused to allow that and arrested Cancela.

The complaint claims that the investigation of Cancela and Escobar was based on a phone number they had abandoned after moving from Puerto Rico to Florida in February 2018. Jones had done no investigation to determine who was using the phone number when the alleged offenses occurred in October 2019, the complaint says.

The suit alleges that Jones lied in the arrest affidavit, claiming as fact that Cancela had promoted child pornography by sharing five files showing a prepubescent girl engaged in a sex act to other Facebook users. Jones also falsely implied that Cancela’s children appeared in videos, the lawsuit claims.

“He said that, he implied that, in his arrest report, which is a sworn statement, and it's simply not true — (that) he actually, personally viewed the child pornography,” Faherty said. “And those children had already been interviewed by Child Protective Services in the presence of another deputy before he ever filled out his report and then filed it in the public record the next day. He knew they had nothing to do with anything. But he implied that they were the same age and gender as the children depicted, but he already knew it was not true. So again, it was just layers of lies in my opinion.”

Cancela became so distraught after his arrest that he was placed under suicide watch, the complaint says.

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While some of the counts in the complaint name Jones alone, the suit cites Judd for claims of false arrest and malicious prosecution. One count, filed on behalf of Escobar, names both Jones and Judd for state and federal civil rights violations, claiming she suffered the loss of her ex-husband’s services, companionship and consortium, along with mental and emotional anguish.

Jones is no longer employed by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, spokesperson Carrie Horstman said.

The lawsuit demands a jury trial and seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

Asked about the lawsuit Wednesday morning, Horstman said that PCSO was not aware of the filing and had no comment.

Faherty said that Judd’s reference to Cancela at the 2020 news conference could be the basis for having the sheriff deposed.

Faherty said that Escobar still lives at the Davenport address. He said he believes that Cancela still lives in Polk County.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County man sues Sheriff Judd, ex-deputy over 2020 arrest