Del Mar School Board Member Arrested in Florida Prostitution Sting Operation

Del Mar School Board Member Arrested in Florida Prostitution Sting Operation
A man in handcuffs in a file photo. (Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images)
City News Service
2/17/2023
Updated:
2/17/2023
0:00

SAN DIEGO—A 13-year member of the Del Mar Union School District Board of Trustees was jailed last weekend on suspicion of soliciting prostitution in Florida, authorities announced Feb. 16.

Scott Wooden, 60, was one of 213 people arrested during a weeklong crackdown on human trafficking in Polk County, according to law enforcement officials there.

Scott Wooden. (Courtesy of Del Mar Union School District)
Scott Wooden. (Courtesy of Del Mar Union School District)

Wooden, a married father of two who has served on the coastal San Diego County school board since 2010, was taken into custody Feb. 11 during a sting operation, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Wooden allegedly responded to a mock online sex-services advertisement and paid a deputy posing as a prostitute $200, at which point he was arrested, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

While being questioned while in custody, Wooden commented that he had been “caught doing something stupid,” the court document states.

He was released from jail Monday after posting a $500 bond, said Carrie Horstman, a Polk County sheriff’s spokesperson.