Jacksonville man arrests for child sex crimes, stealing a car

MIDDLEBURG – Deputies responding to a car accident wound up putting a Jacksonville man in the Clay County Jail on Dec. 11 on an array of child sex crimes and driving a stolen car.
George Sebastian-Gonzo Stewart, 21, was charged with interference of custody of a child, simple battery, grand theft auto, sending in-state electronic information to harm a child, traveling to meet a minor and using his cellphone to facilitate a felony after deputies said he crashed his father’s car at Omega Park.
When they investigated the accident, Stewart said he had a 17-year-old passenger when he crashed. The passenger, who later was identified as being 12, lived near the park, according to the arrest report.
The two met on Instagram on Dec. 8 and continued to chat through Dec. 11 when the girl agreed to sneak out of her home and meet him in the park. Stewart sent “selfie” nude pictures of himself, but the girl didn’t reciprocate, the sheriff’s office said.
Stewart crashed when he backed into a fence at a high rate of speed on Masters Road. He then drove back to the park where the girl said Stewart tried to grope her twice. She told deputies she returned home after feeling uneasy.
Stewart, whose next court date is Jan. 4, is being held on a $67,518 bond.

Melrose woman jailed for
setting up carjacking

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – A Melrose woman was arrested after the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said she orchestrated a plan with two other people on Nov. 4 to carjack a man’s truck.
Amber Marie Caudill, 29, of Melrose, was in the county jail with a $150,000 bond after being charged with carjacking with a deadly weapon after deputies said she lured a man to High Ridge Estates to take his truck. According to the affidavit for arrest warrant, Caudill asked the man to take her to Swarthmore Drive so she could find a camper she said was stolen a week earlier. She got out of the truck and started walking through yards at 2 a.m. The victim became concerned and started looking for Caudill when he was approached by two other people identified as Michael Shane Beeman Hatch and Clarissa Thomas. Hatch then brandished a knife and order the victim to move away from his truck. As he did it, Caudill emerged from some bushes and got into the driver’s seat, while Hatch and Thomas got into the passenger seat.
The trio eventually was arrested in Putnam County. Caudill was arrested on Dec. 7 at her home in Melrose. Hatch remains in the Putnam County Jail without bond and Thomas remains at large.