Men arrested on charges of sex trafficking in Orlando's tourist corridor

ORLANDO, Fla. — Two men were arrested on charges of operating a sex trafficking ring in the International Drive area.

Investigators said it's a side of the tourist district that most people never see, and the problem is getting worse.

WFTV learned that some of the victims of the operation were children.

Police said Reginal Hardy, 39, was pulled over with a 14-year-old girl from Cocoa, and she told officers he forced her into prostitution.  Police said at the time, Hardy was out on parole for doing the same thing to a 17-year-old in Brevard County.

He was arrested Wednesday night.

"I wouldn't have thought it was happening around here," tourist Colin Knight said.

Another man, David Chambers from South Carolina, was accused of holding two women captive.

"The stories we hear from most of them is that there's problems at home, and they end up running away, and they're out on the streets and they get befriended by the wrong people," said  Larry Zwieg of the Metro Bureau of Investigations.

Investigators said that's exactly what happened in Hardy's case.

They said his arrest was by chance when police pulled him over for dark window tint and found the intoxicated 14-year-old girl in the car.

Police said she told them she was forced to have sex for money at hotels and was afraid for her life.

"These people who become the pimps get them using drugs, take advantage of them, exploit them sexually," Zwieg said.

Chambers was released on $10,000 bail Thursday night.

Hardy remains in jail on $50,000 bail. Officials said if Hardy bails out, he will be given a GPS monitoring device.

WFTV