Questions are mounting after a man with no employment ties to Disney was arrested inside a restricted area of Walt Disney World Resort.
The Walt Disney Company has confirmed that Michael Byrne, 37, of Lakeland, does not work for the company. Yet Byrne was arrested at 751 Backstage Lane, an address in the resort’s behind-the-scenes area, and it remains unclear how he gained access to that space.
The arrest followed an undercover investigation into online predators, as detailed by Click Orlando. “According to the affidavit, an undercover deputy was operating a Snapchat account in August 2026 when a user identified as “madmax17245” made contact,” the outlet reported. “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.”
Byrne is alleged to have then sent explicit photos and videos to the account while asking the deputy to send images back. After he was detained, Byrne reportedly admitted the Snapchat account was his but maintained he had not known he was speaking with a minor.
He now faces three charges. As Click Orlando put it, “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.”
For guests, the backstage element is what stands out most. These areas sit out of public view and are generally reserved for staff and approved vendors, which is why Disney’s statement has drawn attention. No further details have been shared.
This isn’t the first case of its kind to surface recently. In September, an Epic Universe team leader at Universal Orlando Resort was arrested in a separate sting. That employee had allegedly sought to have sex with a 14-year-old, but the “child” turned out to be an undercover deputy.
Click Orlando reported at the time: “Deputies arrested 30-year-old Tyler Exline Tuesday at his place of employment, Universal’s Epic Universe. 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.”
Two arrests tied to the region’s biggest resorts in such a short span show that law enforcement continues to closely monitor online activity across Orlando.
Disney Dining will continue to update this developing story.
