UCF, Rollins trustee snared in prostitution sting

Cristóbal Reyes, Orlando Sentinel
·2 min read

A member of the University of Central Florida’s board of trustees was among three people snared this week in a prostitution sting by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.

Also arrested was a sheriff’s employee who has since resigned.

Harold Mills, 53, who also is a trustee at Rollins College, was invited to Sandlando Park in Altamonte Springs Thursday by undercover deputies using Sniffles, a map-based hookup app matching gay and bisexual men with others living in the area, according to an affidavit. The sheriff’s office had undertaken the operation to target lewd and lascivious behavior in county parks.

A deputy approached Mills at his car, where Mills exposed himself before the deputy walked with him to a nearby restroom and “gave the takedown command,” according to an affidavit. Mills told deputies he was there to “clear his mind during work” and it was his first time meeting someone in the park for sex.

Mills was taken to jail, and charged with soliciting a prostitute and indecent exposure. A UCF spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, nor has Rollins College.

Mills, 53, is CEO of an investment firm, VMD Ventures, and past CEO of the ZeroChaos workforce management firm, according to the UCF Board of Trustees web page. He has been an active volunteer in Central Florida for many years.

A similar sting took place at Liberty Park in Lake Mary, where Leroy Green, an SCSO juvenile intervention specialist, arrived after connecting with an undercover deputy on Sniffles. In the arrest affidavit, deputies recognized Green, 35, as a Sheriff’s Office employee and noted he was wearing a black long-sleeved agency-issued shirt with the words “Youth Services” on the back.

Green, also charged with soliciting a prostitute and indecent exposure, has since resigned from his job at the Sheriff’s Office, SCSO spokesperson Bob Kealing said in an email.

One other man, 39-year-old Jason Areis, was arrested in Liberty Park in a similar sting and on similar charges.

All three men have since been released from the John E. Polk Correctional Facility on a $1,500 bond.