POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A man was arrested on Saturday after deputies claimed he traveled to Polk County to meet a 14-year-old for sex.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said Emerick Priddy, 22, traveled from West Palm Beach to meet the victim, who he groomed online. Priddy had plans to "engage in sexual activity" with her.
Deputies said they spotted Priddy's Honda Civic in a parking lot just before 3 a.m., where they found Priddy in the backseat with the victim. Both were in various stages of undress, they said.
PCSO said Priddy told them he was 17 years old, but when they ran his driver's license, they learned his real age.
An investigation was launched, which revealed that Priddy met the victim on Snapchat and convinced her to sneak out of her home in the middle of the night to meet him. He then drove to her home in Polk County, where the victim climbed out of her bedroom window and got in his Civic.
According to deputies, Piddy then drove her to the park, where they got into the backseat and "engaged in sex." He told the victim when he met her online that he was 17, and when she said she was 14, he replied, "its prolly a one time thing" and "I aint worried."
Priddy was booked into the Polk County Jail and is being charged with traveling to meet a minor for sex, lewd battery, transmission of material harmful to a minor, interference with child custody and use of a two-way communication device in a felony.
“Emerick Priddy picked the wrong county to come to and sexually batter a child," said Sheriff Grady Judd. "He's now facing five felonies and hopefully will be registered as a sexual offender for the rest of his life.”
'Cruise lights' on Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office patrol cars raise questions, confusion among drivers
Every driver knows that when you see red and blue flashing lights on a patrol car, you slow down, pull over, or get out of the way.
But in Hillsborough County, drivers will also now see deputies with their lights on, but not flashing. They're called "cruise lights," and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) recently implemented their use on all patrol vehicles.
