OCALA, Fla. — A Florida horse trainer was arrested after investigators say he was grooming a 13-year-old girl, according to the Ocala Police Department.
According to a Facebook post from the agency, 39-year-old Jerry Aguilar was arrested Friday by police on three charges of soliciting a child for sexual conduct via text messages and 10 counts of sending explicit material to a child.
The arrest came after the 13-year-old's mother reportedly saw inappropriate messages received from Aguilar on the teen's phone. She got in touch with police after seeing them.
A detective with the Ocala Police Department looked at the phone after the mother gave permission and found the 39-year-old man had been texting the teen for several weeks. The evidence suggested "he was grooming the child to be comfortable with him," the agency explains.
The detective then pretended to be the teen and texted Aguilar, who reportedly made sexual references, sent sexually explicit content and asked the teen to do inappropriate things.
After this interaction, the Ocala man was arrested.
"We take crimes against children very seriously," the police department wrote on Facebook. "Mr. Aguilar is a horse trainer and coach with children under his supervision, so we urge any potential victims to come forward. These dangerous crimes against children are widespread and can happen to anyone.
"Aguilar had positioned himself as a close friend to the family, who were all dismayed upon discovering his inappropriate behavior."
