Jacksonville man accused of traveling to St. Johns County to meet child for sex

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A Jacksonville man was arrested after St. Johns County deputies said he tried to meet a child for sex.

“That’s just too close for comfort,” neighbor Candice Charneicki said.

Charneicki said she had no idea her neighbor Christopher Villarreal was anything but a good parent.

“When we had Hurricane Irma, that guy was here helping out every resident we had. You would have never ever known,” Charneicki said.

Villarreal was arrested Thursday night on charges of traveling to meet a child for sex, soliciting a child online for sex, soliciting a parent for sex with a child and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

“That’s very concerning. Oh, you just gave me chills,” Charneicki said.

Deputies said he was chatting with an undercover detective online.

According to detectives, he was looking for a child for sex and sent pornographic pictures. He then drove to St. Johns County to meet who he thought was a child.

Parents said their neighborhood is full of kids.

“There’s a lot of small children around here, you’ve got mine and the back is full of kids. It’s just crazy someone was living right here,” Charneicki said.

Neighbors said Villarreal also has several kids living with him.

Action News Jax’s Danielle Avitable watched two women leave his apartment and put two children in their cars.

A security officer for the apartment complex said he couldn’t believe his neighbor was arrested for something like this.

“We do backgrounds, I’m a security officer here, so that’s very shocking,” the security officer said.

Cox Media Group