Crime & Safety

Deputies: Man Tried to Meet Girl, 14, For Sex

An undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl online was solicited by a 35-year-old Clearwater man, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

A Clearwater man is charged with arranging to have sex with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl he met online, deputies said Tuesday.

Robert Mark Hall, 35, of 6250 Roosevelt Blvd., became the subject of an investigation last month after he posted a local ad on Craigslist, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Hall made contact online with an undercover detective posing as a teenage girl.

"Over the course of a two week period, Hall sent inappropriate messages to the
undercover detective soliciting sexual favors," a sheriff's office spokesperson said in a media release.

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On Monday, Hall made arrangements to meet the girl at a local park, where detectives arrested him and charged him with traveling to meet a minor and prohibited use of a computer service.

During the investigation, Hall admitted to the allegations made against him, according to the sheriff's office.

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Hall, who is unemployed, was booked into Pinellas County Jail on $15,000 bond.


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