Thomas Allen Hicks, 68, was arrested last week in connection with a Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) sting operation to identify individuals using the internet for the sexual exploitation of children.
Hicks, a Lakeland resident, has frequently appeared as Santa Claus at Christmas events in the Lakeland area.
According to an affidavit filed with Polk County Clerk, Hicks allegedly knowingly solicited sex with a minor through a known prostitution website. Hicks communicated with an undercover Marion County Detective who posed as a father advertising his 13-year-old daughter. The detective confirmed with Hicks multiple times that he was interested in the girl despite her young age.
In a 2022 interview, Hicks said that he began playing Santa in the Lakeland Christmas Parade in 2017. He said he has also appeared at the Kissimmee Festival of Lights Parade and for several years at Zoo Tampa. In the same interview, Hicks said, “I grew up to become a Pastor, just like my dad. I have pastored churches in Pensacola, Florida, Lexington, North Carolina, and now in Lakeland, Florida.”
According to Angel Davis, president of the Junior League of Greater Lakeland, Hicks would not have had direct contact with children as Santa in the annual Lakeland Christmas Parade.
Spectrum Bay News 9 named Hicks and his wife “Everyday Heroes” in September 2024 for their work as Santa and Mrs. Claus. They wrote that the couple appeared at various events, including the Lakeland Police Department’s Cops for Kids event and a summer Christmas event at the Lake Mirror Center hosted by Tri-County Human Services, where Hicks was most recently employed as a marketing representative.
At the time, Bay News 9 quoted Hicks as saying that playing Santa was more than a job for him: “It’s just the joy that you bring to children and families … To see their reaction, their surprise. And then the joy, the smiles on their faces as they interact. The children really express a lot of love back.”
PCSO Sheriff Grady Judd has scheduled a press conference about the multi-day joint-agency undercover investigation, “Operation Child Protector VIII,” at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29. LkldNow will update this story as more details become available.
Anna Toms is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.
