#1684 Henry Cadle

Henry P. Cadle, 66, of Polk County, Florida, is serving 17 years in prison for repeatedly raping his adopted niece, starting when she was around 9 years old. He is only in prison today because the girl, Taylor Cadle, secretly filmed him raping her a second time, after Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd’s own detectives decided she was the one lying and put her on probation for it.

THE CASE

Taylor Cadle was adopted by her aunt and uncle, Henry Cadle, in 2012, when she was just under 9 years old. Henry began inappropriately touching her, with the abuse escalating to rape over the next several years, according to a lawsuit she later filed.

Taylor kept the abuse secret for years, afraid that reporting it would send her back into foster care. In 2016, she finally told her church minister’s wife, who contacted law enforcement.

THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE PUT THE 13 YEAR OLD VICTIM ON PROBATION

What followed was a months-long investigation. The detective assigned to the case decided there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Henry Cadle at all.

“There is, however, enough probable cause to establish Taylor Cadle lied during a felony investigation,” the detective wrote, adding that lab results had come back negative.

Taylor’s aunt pushed her to plead guilty just to end it. At 13 years old, Taylor pled guilty to giving false information to a law enforcement officer. She was placed on probation and sent right back home, to live with Henry Cadle.

Her probation conditions included a curfew, community service, anger-management counseling, and a written letter of apology, to both Henry Cadle and to the sheriff’s office itself.

Less than a month after that guilty plea, Henry Cadle raped her again, this time in his truck. This time, Taylor was ready. She secretly recorded video and photographs of the assault.

She called 911 that same night. When investigators showed Henry Cadle the footage, he admitted it was him.

“Upon being shown the video and pictures, [Henry Cadle] confirmed it was him in the pictures and advised, ‘She set me up,'” an arrest affidavit reads.

Only then did the sheriff’s office move to withdraw Taylor’s guilty plea and vacate her probation. In 2019, Henry Cadle was sentenced to 17 years in prison for sexual battery, with lifetime probation and sex offender registration to follow if he is ever released. He is currently incarcerated in the Florida prison system.

NOW SHE IS SUING

In October 2025, Taylor Cadle sued Henry Cadle, Sheriff Grady Judd, and the two detectives who handled her case. The lawsuit accuses the sheriff’s office of encouraging deputies to disregard victims’ constitutional rights, and of criminalizing minors for making statements investigators decided not to believe.

“Sheriff Judd knowingly encouraged and authorized members of the PCSO to disregard and violate Constitutional and Fourth Amendment rights of victims, particularly minors, with his tough-on-crime rhetoric, and criminalization of minors for making false statements,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit also accuses the department of failing to train detectives on how to properly investigate child sexual abuse cases. Against Henry Cadle directly, it adds claims of rape, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy.

Asked about the lawsuit, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office dismissed it as a money grab and said the two named detectives remain employed by the agency in good standing.

Not a drag queen, not a liberal teacher, not an immigrant they warned you about. A sheriff’s office that built its brand on “tough on crime” let a confessed child rapist walk free for years and punished his 13 year old victim instead.

LOCAL OFFICIALS

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is a Republican. He has held the office since 2005 and was reelected to a sixth term in 2024 with over 80 percent of the vote. He has endorsed Republican congressional candidates and is profiled on the Polk County Republican Party’s own website.

Polk County Commission Chair Martha Santiago is also a Republican. She has represented District 4 on the county commission since 2017 or 2018, depending on the source, and has chaired the board through 2026.

POLITICAL AFFILIATION

We have not independently confirmed Henry Cadle’s own party registration. What we can confirm is the political affiliation of the sheriff whose office is accused, in a sworn lawsuit, of running a policy that revictimized a child rape survivor: Grady Judd is a longtime, prominently Republican sheriff, reelected overwhelmingly as recently as 2024.