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As much as we wish it did, Disney World does not exist in a bubble. Bad things sometimes happen, and bad people sometimes become Cast Members. As much as they try to hire only the best, sometimes someone slips through the cracks. Daniel Rivera is one of those people.
Rivera, a Disney World Cast Member, was arrested Thursday (May 11, 2023) on child pornography charges. He had been under investigation since last September when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted the Orange County Sheriffโs Office to their suspicions that child pornography was being shared in the Orlando area on the file hosting service Dropbox.
Dropbox cooperated fully with requests for IP addresses which led investigators to Disney World. One of the IP addresses was linked to Walt Disney World Service, which โimplies that the user was located within Disney office space or Disney property,โ according to an affidavit. The account was also linked to Rivera’s home in Winter Garden.
His home was searched Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Orange County Sheriffโs Office. There they found hard drives full of photos of young girls in erotic poses. His Dropbox account also revealed two videos of children under 10 years of age engaged in sex acts with adult men.
Investigators used Rivera’s email address to track his online activity and found a social media site dedicated to “sexual interests and videos.” According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Many of Riveraโs posts are in discussion forums that have titles indicative of an interest in young girls and theme parks.โ His account contained 155 photos of young girls and women he claimed to know, according to court records. Many of the photos included women in Disney costumes and we’re coworkers of Rivera. He admitted to investigators that he took their pictures without their knowledge and listed their contact information on the site.
Initially, Rivera time investigators he had saved “less than 30 videos of child pornography, and that he digressed into looking for child pornography in the last year or two.โ However, when investigators confronted him with proof otherwise, he admitted he had been searching for child pornography once a week for 10 years. He was nonchalant about it, saying, “I have a problem, I guess,โ he said, according to court records. โI tried to fix myself, but I never could.โ
Rivera worked at Walt Disney World for more than 20 years, though it is not currently known in what capacity. “He has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the charges,โ a Walt Disney World spokesperson told the Orlando Sentinel.