Police found a missing 17-year-old girl in a sex offender’s closet in Florida, leading to the man’s arrest.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that the agency was contacted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, April 13, because investigators believed a runaway teen was with a man in Dundee.
Detectives with Polk County then went to Alexis Diaz-Toledo’s home to look for the missing girl. Upon their arrival, Diaz-Toledo, 30, denied knowing where the teen was and said he had not seen her in several days.
Diaz-Toledo initially refused to let the investigators into his home, according to police.
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Investigators ultimately determined that Diaz-Toledo violated the terms of his sexual offender registration by not reporting two vehicles that were being kept at his home.
The detectives were eventually granted access inside Diaz-Toledo’s home, and they started to search the property. Detectives then found the missing teen hiding in his closet.
The teen was then returned home, and Diaz-Toledo was arrested. He has been charged with sex offender failure to comply with registration requirements, interfering with custody of a minor, sheltering a minor without notifying parent, and false information to a law enforcement officer in a missing person investigation.
Diaz-Toledo became a registered sex offender after he was convicted in 2014 for lewd, lascivious battery on a victim between 12 and 15 years old.
It is not currently clear if Diaz-Toledo has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following his recent arrest. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Us Weekly’s request for comment regarding the case.
Not much is known about the situation, including how Diaz-Toledo knew the teen girl, how long she was missing, what condition she was in when she was found, and if she sustained injuries at the time of her disappearance.
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An investigation into the matter remains ongoing.
In the state of Florida, sex offenders face severe restrictions that include mandatory 10 pm to 6 am curfews if on probation, a ban on living within 1,000 feet of schools, parks or playground, and prohibitions on working where children spend time, according to the Law Offices of Jeff Paulk website. Sex offenders must also register regularly with the sheriff’s office, and they cannot contact victims or children who are unsupervised.
If Diaz-Toledo is found guilty of the charges, he will likely get severe sentencing due to his status as a registered sex offender.
