An alleged pedophile secretly hid in an underage girl’s closet for one month before he was discovered by the girl’s parents.
Jonathan Rossmoine, 36, met the 15-year-old girl on social media and hid in a closet in her bedroom to avoid detection by her parents, according to Fox 13 News.
The girl reportedly told Rossmoine she was 18. When they met for the first time, the girl allegedly confessed that she was 18 years old. The suspect drove multiple times from his home in Louisiana to Florida to have sex with the girl in the family’s Spring Hill home.
Rossmoine was discovered hiding in the girl’s closet after her parents heard voices coming from the girl’s bedroom.
He was arrested and charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, and one count of traveling across state lines to meet a minor for indecent purposes.
“He and the young lady came up with the idea that he could just stay in her room if he hid in the closet whenever the parents came in,” Hernando County Sheriff’s Office Detective Tom Cameron said.
“They kept the bedroom door closed and locked and whenever someone came to the door it gave them an opportunity to run and hide in the closet and open up the door to where maybe she was changing or something.”
Authorities said Rossmoine admitted that he and the girl had sex a number of times in his van, which he had parked near her home, Crime Online reported.
Child experts advise parents to limit their child’s access to smartphones and the internet.
“Kids can be doing things under our noses and in your house that you might not be aware of that could shock you,” child psychologist Dr. Wendy Rice told Fox 13.
“Get the electronics out of the bedroom. That is key. None of us really need to be sleeping with our phones next to our beds and least of all teens.”
Child advocacy groups are lobbying lawmakers to fine social media platforms that allow children to register accounts.
