This Santa is on his way, a lot naughty list.
A married Santa Claus character who has sat “thousands and thousands of children” on his lap over the years has been caught in the act of hiding a child in bed.
Thomas Allen Hicks, 68, a white-bearded Santa and 40-year-old preacher, allegedly answered an online ad posted by an undercover detective posing as a parent to his 13-year-old daughter, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
The suspect was harassed after agreeing to pay $200 and clearly describing the sexual acts he wanted to perform on the child — and promising to be “gentle,” the sheriff’s office said.
“I talked to the real Santa Claus today, and he’s pissed off,” Judd joked to reporters Wednesday.
He said, ‘People like that make me infamous, and I spend all this time traveling around the world giving gifts to all the good boys and girls.’
Hicks has been married for more than 50 years and was “respected” in the professional Santa Claus community, according to Judd.
“Thousands and thousands and thousands of children sat on this boy’s lap thinking he was Santa Claus when in fact he was a child abuser,” said the sheriff of the suspect who played Santa at the Lakeland Christmas party for at least a decade.
Hicks, of Lakeland, is one of 19 people arrested in the incident.
He was charged with human trafficking, traveling to meet a minor, using a computer to entice a child, and using a communication device to commit a crime.
He has been a preacher for more than 40 years and worked for Tri-County Behavioral Health, a mental health and substance abuse clinic in Polk County, Judd said.
He is said to have admitted that he was attracted to the girl in the ad, and then decided to try to meet her even though he suspected it was a set up, according to an affidavit obtained by Fox 13.
Scho also revealed to detectives that he has been married for more than 50 years but still downloads porn he finds online.
Hicks was fired from his job at Tri-County Behavioral Health following his arrest.
“Mr. Hicks did not have access to clients or their electronic health records and could not collect any data related to the child’s information at any time during his employment,” the company said in a statement.
Another 18 suspects were arrested in the week-long operation, dubbed “Operation Child Protector VIII,” which involved multiple agencies in several Florida counties.
The 16 suspects allegedly contacted undercover detectives who believed they were children or babysitters and then went to meet a young child to have sex. The three sent nude photos to the secret police.
Seven of these suspects are married, three are military veterans, police said.
In total, the suspects are facing 85 charges and 8 charges.
