Former CCSO deputy sentenced to 25 years for sexually abusing a child
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A former Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputy pled guilt to three counts of sexual assault on a child and one count of child molestation.
Paul Sergio-Ferreira Mauricio, 50, was sentenced to 25 years on Feb. 22 in prison after a 12-year-old girl told her mother about being assaulted on April 12 of last year.
Mauricio was initially charged with six counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of lewd and lascivious behavior of a child when he was arrested on April 14.
According to the arrest report, the abuse started when the girl was 11 and she told her mother she wanted it to stop. She entered the mother’s bedroom and said, “I don’t want to tell you. It’s going to break your heart.” She told investigators it happened more times than she could remember.
The mother called the Florida State Department of Children and Families, which alerted CCSO. According to the arrest report, during an interview, Mauricio admitted to making a “big mistake.”

CCSO: Woman jailed for trying to run over deputy
FLEMING ISLAND – A Fleming Island woman was arrested on Feb. 26 after a Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputy said she tried to back over him at a high rate of speed at Black Creek Park and Trail.
Rylie Elizabeth Barker, 19, was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer following an off-and-on chase on U.S. Highway that ended when she ran off the road and crashed into a street sign, according to the arrest report.
Barker was driving so erratically dispatch told the deputy to turn off his emergency lights and follow her from a safe distance. According to the arrest report, she ran off the road twice and nearly into the back of a trailer with a boat.
Barker’s bond was set at $150,006.

Seatbelt violation results in significant drug bust
ORANGE PARK – A traffic stop for a seatbelt violation led to a litany of drug charges against an Orange Park man, including trafficking fentanyl and cocaine.
In addition to the trafficking charges, Lemuel Henry Crowder, 52, was charged on Feb. 26 with possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a firearm by a convicted felon after a Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped a car on Wells Road because the woman driving wasn’t wearing her seatbelt.
When the deputy approached the car, he smelled marijuana. CCSO dispatched K-9 Ory to the scene, and the dog alerted deputies of the likely presence of drugs inside the car.
According to the arrest report, Crowder admitted to smoking marijuana. He also said there was more marijuana in the center console. During the search, deputies recovered 29.1 grams of cocaine in the driver’s shorts. Crowder told deputies he asked her to hide the drugs when they were stopped.
The search also led to the discovery of a loaded handgun, 21.4 grams of fentanyl, 9.1 grams of cocaine in multiple packaged, 3.5 grams of marijuana, 2.8 grams of methamphetamine and 1½ methylphenidate pills.
Crowder, who had 12 prior felony convictions, remains in the Clay County Jail with a $775,014 bond.

Man back in jail after failing probation drug test

CLAY COUNTY – A man on probation was arrested in Plant City and returned to the Clay County Jail after he flunked a drug test when he reported to his probation officer.
Scott Donald Dodd, 38, is being held without bond after he was convicted in 2021 of breaking into four businesses, including the Girl Scouts of America, on Blanding Boulevard on Sept. 14, 2020.
He was sentenced to two years in jail, followed by two years of probation. Counting his time served, he did one year and nine months. When he reported to his probation officer on Jan. 23, his eyes “were bloodshot and he appeared agitated and nervous,” according to the Florida Department of Corrections’ violation report.
He was ordered to take a drug test, and it detected methamphetamine.