Overview
- Polk County deputies arrested 42-year-old Timothy Chaneyfield and booked him on more than a dozen counts, including lewd battery of a minor, traveling to meet a minor, and multiple counts for failing to disclose his HIV status; officials say he was taken into custody after returning to Orlando on July 29.
- Investigators allege Chaneyfield used a dating app and Instagram to groom a 14-year-old, picked the boy up from his neighborhood several times, and sexually abused him at the suspect’s Eagle Lake-area home on multiple occasions.
- Police say the 14-year-old was given emergency preventive HIV medication after the alleged exposure and that a separate 26-year-old who had sexual contact with Chaneyfield later tested positive for HIV.
- The probe began after an automated Instagram tip was routed through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and detectives tracked Chaneyfield—who had been working in Baltimore—before arresting him at Orlando International Airport.
- Chaneyfield served as a pastor, a hospice chaplain, and previously worked in local schools, and officials — who are urging anyone who had sexual contact with him to seek medical care and contact investigators — say they believe there may be additional victims and continue to gather evidence.