MADISON COUNTY, Fla. — A man is out on bond after admitting to using his cellphone to record a young child using the bathroom at a I-10 rest area in Madison County.
Gustavo Alberto Arias Maldonado, 34, was arrested by the Madison County Sheriff's Office.
On Aug. 2, deputies were called to the westbound rest area of Interstate 10 located in eastern Madison County regarding a complaint of Maldonado recording a boy in the men’s bathroom.
When deputies arrived on scene, the victim's mother stated that her son was in a private stall in the bathroom when Maldonado reached under the closed stall with a cell phone in his hand. The mother also told deputies that she confronted Maldonado as he left the bathroom, however, he ran to a vehicle and drove away.
MCSO said the mother was able to provide an "excellent" description of Maldonado and the vehicle including the vehicle tag number. Multiple deputies then responded to I-10 and began searching for Maldonado's vehicle.
Deputies were able to identify Maldonado's car at a gas station and pulled him over.
According to MCSO, Maldonado was the only person in the vehicle and appeared extremely nervous while being questioned. Maldonado admitted to being at the rest area previously but denied videoing anyone.
Maldonado offered his cellphone to deputies and gave permission to them to search the phone. They found video evidence confirming what the victim's mother originally told them.
Maldonado was placed under arrest and taken to the Madison County Jail. At the jail, he provided a post Miranda confession to the accusations made against him.
He was booked with a $50,000 bond but has since been released.
He is being charged with Video Voyeurism Offender Over 24 Victim Under 16.
“I credit this arrest to the accurate description of the suspect and his vehicle provided by the victim’s mother along with the immediate response by our deputies. Within just minutes every available deputy including investigators saturated the Interstate and exits with accurate knowledge of what the suspect looked like, the clothing he was wearing and the vehicle he was driving including the tag number attached. Without this information this suspect could have escaped our jurisdiction unnoticed," said Madison County Major David Harper.
