WAKULLA COUNTY, Fla. — A man has been arrested after deputies say he planned on taking a 17-year-old Wakulla girl to Georgia to pursue a sexual relationship with her.
Richard Lewis Bubb III, aka “Richie Lewis,” 44, was arrested on Friday.
On Tuesday, a complainant made contact with WCSO and reported that a 17-year old girl for whom she exercised custodial responsibility, had been receiving inappropriate messages from Lewis.
WCSO said the complainant found the messages on the 17-year old girl’s cellphone within a social media messaging app on the phone.
Through interviews, a variety of investigative techniques, and the help of Special Agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, CID Detectives determined that Lewis sent nude photographs of himself to the girl, performed sexual acts which were sent to her, and encouraged her to do the same.
Conversations and photographs were taken from the 17-year old’s cellphone. There was a plan made for Lewis to drive to Wakulla County on Friday from Georgia.
According to WCSO, the girl was going to pack her suitcase and meet him at a local store in Wakulla County, where Lewis would pick her up and take her to another state to begin a sexual relationship.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Lewis and he was taken into custody by the United States Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Taskforce by authority of the Wakulla County arrest warrant.
Lewis was turned over to the Charlton County Sheriff’s Office and booked into the Charlton County Jail in Folkston, Georgia. Following extradition procedures, Lewis will be transported to Wakulla County.
He is facing charges of solicitation of a minor, transmission of child pornography, and the transmission of harmful material to a minor.
