'Most wanted’ man arrested for sexual battery on a child after his own daughters’ TikTok campaign

A man accused of sexual battery on a child, who appeared on a "Most Wanted" TV programme, has been arrested following a TikTok campaign led by his own daughters.

Davie Albarran, aged 51, was taken in to custody in Florida, United States, by officials, with the help of the police’s K9 Kreed. The arrest happened on Sunday (February 18) after deputies received a tip-off about his location.

Sheriff Grady Judd of the Polk County Sherrif’s Office said Albarran was found hiding in a shed in a place called Country Haven Drive.

“We snuck around Sunday night just before midnight. In the backyard in Country Haven Drive. Well, it might have been Country Haven Drive, but it was no haven for him,” Sheriff Judd said in a briefing the day after he was arrested, on Monday (February 19).

“He told us his name was Jose,” Sheriff Judd added in his briefing. “Can you believe that? Not only has he committed capital sexual battery on a child, he lies to the sheriff’s office.”

Albarran had a warrant for his arrest by the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office over sexual battery on a child. He had also been featured on the FOX TV show "America’s Most Wanted" in an effort to bring him to justice.

His own two adult daughters, Ana and Yaneiry, have been credited with helping to bring their father in to custody. They each made TikTok videos, putting their father's face all over social media for more than a year so that many people would recognise him in the hope this exposure would lead to his arrest.

Ana, who posts under the handle @ana_rosa_sosa, had uploaded multiple videos about her father, including videos where she listed his suspected location prior to his capture and appeals for her followers to help her find him. She even posted a video where she showed happy times with her father, before she knew of his crime, and juxtaposed this with footage of her speaking out against him.

Most recently, she posted a video of herself and Yaneiry celebrating with their friends and family when news of their father's capture reached them.

Ana and Yaneiry claim they have been contacted by more victims since starting their campaign, other than the two cases he has been formally accused of.  Their hunt for their father started in 2022, when they say he disappeared after they confronted him and accused him of assaulting their young female family member.

32-year-old Ana decided to write a social media post about her father at that time, asking for helping in finding him. In her post, she claimed her father acted inappropriately with her when she was a child. In that post she wrote: "Please share and paint the city with his face. My father Davie Albarran is a pedo, he's on the run and the cops are looking for him."  

She went on to tell Fox35 that she was stunned when she heard about the accusations against her father by other victims. "When I posted it, so many people said, gave me messages saying you know what, your dad did that to me too," she said.

Ana told local publication WFTV9 about the moment she found out that her father had been caught, during a 6am phone call with a Polk County deputy. “He was like, ‘Good job. We found him,’” she recalled. “I started screaming. I was crying. I was in disbelief.”

Osceola County Sheriff Marcus Lopez also reacted to the news in a video saying that the man is now “booked and rotting in the county jail.”

Albarran warrants include sexual battery on a child under 12, lewd conduct with a child under 12 and not paying child support on a different issue in Orange County, Sheriff Judd said in the briefing.

Sheriff Judd told another local publication, Fox35, that Albarran will now be transferred back to Osceola County, where he will stand trial.