Charles Stillwater
Advertisement
According to authorities, a 29-year-old DeLand man is in custody on charges he sexually battered a 13-year-old girl he met on the Snapchat app using a fake profile.
Joaquin Mendez (DOB 7/14/1991), of Stone Street, DeLand, was arrested last night on a charge of lewd or lascivious battery of a victim under 16.
According to a report from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the girl’s mother found concerning text messages on her daughter’s phone during a routine check and reported the incident Friday afternoon.
Deputies located the suspect vehicle at a house on Stone Street and Mendez was arrested without incident around 1:30 a.m.
Advertisement
“The victim told her mom she had met Mendez on Snapchat and had sex with him that morning after he picked her up in his vehicle and drove her to a wooded area,” said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Andrew Gant.
“The investigation revealed the Instagram and Snapchat accounts Mendez used to contact the victim displayed images of a young man who wasn’t Mendez,” deputies added.
Parents and guardians that discover signs that a child has been sending or receiving sexually explicit messages, images or videos, are asked to call the Volusia Sheriff’s Office Child Exploitation Unit at 386-323-3574.
More News: 12-year-old Florida boy charged with bringing 3 guns to school
Advertisement
