A convicted sex offender is back in custody after Polk County deputies say he violated probation by visiting an elementary school and having contact with a minor.
Orlando Lebron Cruz, 36, was arrested Tuesday evening, January 13, at a home on Perch Place in Lakeland. Deputies took him into custody without incident around 7:24 p.m.
The arrest followed a warrant issued earlier that day citing multiple violations of his probation. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Cruz broke curfew, had unauthorized contact with a child under 18, and entered an elementary school—acts strictly prohibited under his sex offender probation.
Cruz has a lengthy criminal history involving minors. On January 11, 2010, he was sentenced to 15 years in Florida State Prison for Attempted Sexual Battery and Attempted Molestation of a Victim Under 12. He was later placed on 15 years of sex offender probation.
Investigators noted that Cruz had been out of prison less than two years, having been released on March 23, 2024.
He was booked into the Sheriff’s Processing Center and now faces charges for Violation of Probation related to his prior convictions of Attempted Sexual Battery and Attempted Molestation.