St. Augustine Man Accused of Having Sex with Teenage Prostitute

A 39-year-old St. Augustine, Florida man was arrested Friday in Ocoee for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old prostitute in an elementary school parking lot. The arresting officer was doing a routine check of the school just after midnight and supposedly spotted the man’s car with its lights off and a young teen nude from the waist down.

According to the arrest report, the man told the officer that he met the girl in a chat line and she was a friend, and drove from St. Augustine to meet the girl at a CITGO gas station. The arresting officer claims the man allegedly admitted to driving to the school to have sex with the teen and believed the girl was 19-years-old.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the man supposedly told authorities he did not pay the girl for sex, but did give the girl $60. The arrest report shows that the girl evidently admitted she is a prostitute and $60 is her “going rate.”

The man was charged with committing a sexual act with a 16- or 17-year-old child, a felony, and lewdness, a misdemeanor. He was taken to the Orange County Jail and later released on $5,100 bail.

According to the arrest report, the teen who is an alleged runaway was jailed on an Orange County warrant for grand theft.

Committing a sexual act with a 16-or 17-year-old child is also known as statutory rape. In order for prosecutor’s to prove a crime actually occurred certain elements must be shown, such as the victim was 16 or 17 and the defendant was 24 years of age or older when sexual intercourse supposedly occurred. This charge can be difficult to prove if there are no admissions of guilt and no straightforward evidence linked to the sexual act. Defenses to this charge can be tricky because consent and willingness from the victim cannot be applied. Along with this, a victim misrepresenting their age or a defendant honestly being unaware of the victim’s true age is completely irrelevant.

One of the most interesting points of this crime is that the accused cannot be guilty of statutory rape if the supposed victim is 15 years of age. Likewise, if the victim is 19, the accused cannot be guilty of statutory rape in Florida, which carries a prison sentence of anywhere between 3 and 15 years depending on the details surrounding the case. Instead, the accused could be charged with lewd and lascivious battery, which is a far more serious crime.

If you have been arrested for committing a sexual act with a minor anywhere throughout the state of Florida, contact the Florida Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers online or call us toll-free at 866-608-5529.