Lake City Man, 23, Accused of Luring Child for Sex, Held on $325,000 Bond

A 23-year-old Lake City man is facing multiple felony charges after investigators say he arranged online to meet a child at the child's own home while the child's parents were away at work. Willie Lamar Rogers III was arrested on Monday, July 27, after communicating with an undercover Columbia County Sheriff's Office detective who was posing as a minor, and he now sits in custody on a $325,000 bond.

According to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, Rogers told the child to pick him up so the two could go back to the child's residence and have sex once the parents left for work. Rogers, who lived at 549 SW Dockery Lane in Lake City, allegedly gave the child his own address and expressed interest in having sex with the child despite being told the child's stated age, the sheriff's office says. As reported by News4JAX, the person Rogers believed was a child was actually an undercover Columbia County detective specially trained in child sex sting operations.

How the Sting Unfolded

Detectives met Rogers when he approached a vehicle near his residence expecting the child to be inside, per the sheriff's office. Instead of the child, a car pulled up with detectives waiting to make the arrest. The sheriff's office also alleges Rogers sent the child pornographic images during their online exchanges before the meeting was arranged.

Rogers was transported to the Columbia County Detention Facility at 389 NW Quinten Street in Lake City, where he remains held on the $325,000 bond, according to the sheriff's office. He faces charges of attempted sexual battery under Florida Statute 794.011.5a, use of a computer to seduce or lure a child under Florida Statute 847.0135.3a, transmitting information harmful to minors under Florida Statute 847.0138.2, and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony under Florida Statute 934.215.

What the Charges Carry Under Florida Law

Florida's computer solicitation statute, Section 847.0135(3)(a), is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, five years of probation and a $5,000 fine upon conviction, and it also carries lifetime registration on the state's sexual offender registry, according to the Brancato Law Firm. Separately, transmitting explicit material harmful to minors under Section 847.0138 is also a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each individual file sent, and defendants convicted on four or more counts face a mandatory minimum 12-month prison sentence, per the Pumphrey Law Firm.

The two-way communication device charge under Section 934.215 adds another third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a charge prosecutors routinely stack alongside underlying solicitation counts to raise a defendant's overall prison exposure, according to Buda Law. The attempted sexual battery count Rogers faces carries its own severe felony penalties depending on the victim's age and aggravating circumstances, with any conviction requiring mandatory sex offender registration and multi-year prison time, since Florida law holds that minors cannot legally consent to sexual activity.

Part of a Broader Local Enforcement Push

Rogers's arrest is the latest in a string of undercover child exploitation stings run by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office as part of the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a multi-agency coalition spanning 38 counties that combines local, state and federal resources for digital forensics and joint enforcement operations. In June, Columbia County detectives and Lake City Police arrested a Branford man who drove to Lake City believing he was meeting a minor for sex. Later that month, the sheriff's office partnered with the Tampa Police Department in a joint sting that led to the arrest of a 35-year-old man on charges of computer solicitation and luring, while identifying him as being on federal probation at the time.

In May, Lake City Police arrested four men during a days-long ICAC operation that used fake online accounts posing as teenage girls, resulting in felony counts that included traveling to meet a minor and electronic solicitation. Open questions remain in Rogers's case, including the formal charging information expected from the State Attorney's Office for the 3rd Judicial Circuit, the specific social media platform used in the exchange, and the date of his initial court appearance.