JACKSONVILLE Fla.-- Police say a sexual predator is off St. Johns County streets tonight after they arrested a man for allegedly trying to meet at a motel with a handicapped teen.
33-year-old Stephen Woods has been charged with four felony counts after he allegedly solicited sex from a 13-year-old with special needs and her guardian.
Police tell Action News he was speaking online with a detective posing as the teen and the teen's guardian. That conversation led to plans for Woods to drive down from Savannah, Ga. and meet up with the 13-year-old at a local motel for sex. When Woods arrived on Friday, police were waiting.
"The individual showed up and a conversation ensued from there to ensure that the individual the undercover agent was standing with was in fact the individual they were chatting," said Chuck Mulligan, spokesperson for the St. John's County Sheriff's Office. "They had conversations about things that only the two would know as well as some items that this individual brought that led us to believe he intended to have sex with an underage child."
Police say they have reason to believe Woods was involved in other local sex crimes so the investigation is ongoing. Woods is being held at $400,000 bond at the St. John's County Jail.
