ORLANDO, Fla. — A 13-year-old girl was found in an Edgewater motel room Thursday evening with a man she met online, Volusia deputies said.
The girl’s grandmother told deputies that she hadn’t come home from school Thursday, and a friend said she had planned to go to a motel with someone she met online, whose name began with T.
Deputy Royce James visited three local motels and asked workers at each if a young girl and man had checked in. He found them at the third.
Body camera footage shows 22-year-old Tyler Thompson, shirtless, answering the door of the Edgewater motel room. All the lights in the room were off, and the girl ran forward to hug the officer.
“How old are you?” James asked Thompson repeatedly. After the fourth time, he responded: 22.
“Oh you f---ed up,” the deputy said. “You f---ed up real good.”
Thompson was arrested and booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail and charged with interference with child custody and traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child. He was released after posting $15,000 bail, according to deputies.
The Edgewater police are working with the state attorney’s office on potentially adding additional charges to the case.
