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Man Meets MySpace Teen For Sex, Police Say

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 2, 2007

POLK COUNTY - A Fort Lauderdale man met a 14-year-old Polk County girl on MySpace.com and sexually battered her several times since last summer, Polk County deputies say.

Deputies arrested Richard Roland Gagnon Jr., 39, Saturday. Investigators said Gagnon told deputies he met the girl on MySpace and later had e-mail exchanges with her and spoke with her on a cell phone, a sheriff's office release says.

The two met five times, officials said. Gagnon took the girl to local motels four times and committed lewd acts during several of those encounters, the sheriff's office said. The other time, they went to her friend's house, sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said.

Gagnon told deputies he knew she was 14, deputies said.

"This is just one more example of how pedophiles and predators are grooming our children to believe such conduct is acceptable," Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. "We must all work together to keep our children safe from pedophiles and predators who are online every day using their charm and charisma in order to sexually abuse our children."

Gagnon and the girl weren't sure when they first met, Rodgers said. The second time was in September, she said.

In the most recent incident, the girl left home about 11:30 p.m. Friday while her mother was sleeping, to meet with Gagnon, the release says. Gagnon drove her to the Motel 6 at 3120 U.S. 98 North in Lakeland, officials said.

The girl's mother woke up at 7 a.m. and read a note her daughter had written saying she would be back in a week. After speaking with the girl's friends, her mother called the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Deputies found the girl and Gagnon at the Motel 6 about 9:20 a.m. Saturday, the sheriff's office said.

Gagnon was charged with three counts of lewd molestation, three counts of lewd battery, interference with child custody, enticing a child via the Internet and traveling to meet a minor. He remains at the Polk County Jail with no bail set.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilive@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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