A 37-year-old Lakeland man was taken into custody in a backstage area of Walt Disney World Resort this week following an undercover operation targeting online predators in Central Florida.
According to Click Orlando, Michael Byrne was arrested at 751 Backstage Lane, an address within the resort's restricted, non-guest areas. The arrest stems from an investigation that began over the summer on social media.
“According to the affidavit, an undercover deputy was operating a Snapchat account in August 2026 when a user identified as “madmax17245” made contact,” the Click Orlando report reads. “The user identified himself as a 37-year-old male in the Orlando area. The deputy responded, identifying himself as a 13-year-old boy.”
Investigators allege that Byrne went on to send explicit images and videos to the account and requested images from the undercover deputy in return. When officials took him into custody, Byrne reportedly acknowledged that the Snapchat account belonged to him, though he claimed he did not know he had been communicating with a minor.
Perhaps the most puzzling detail is the location of the arrest. The Walt Disney Company has stated that Byrne is not a Disney employee, and there is currently no explanation for how he came to be in a backstage area of the resort, which is typically limited to cast members and authorized personnel.
Click Orlando reports that “Byrne was charged with solicitation of a minor via computer, transmission of harmful material to minors, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.”
The case marks the second time in a matter of weeks that a sting operation has been linked to one of Central Florida's major theme park destinations. In September, a team leader at Universal Orlando Resort's Epic Universe was arrested after allegedly arranging to have sex with a 14-year-old, who was in fact an undercover deputy posing as a “child.”
“Deputies arrested 30-year-old Tyler Exline Tuesday at his place of employment, Universal’s Epic Universe,” Click Orlando said at the time. “He now faces two counts of solicitation of a minor, according to an arrest affidavit. He faces another count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device, also a third-degree felony.”
We will continue to follow this developing story.
