COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — A Branford man was arrested Friday after traveling from Suwannee County to Columbia County intending to meet a child for sex, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Justin Dean Hutchings, 28, was taken into custody June 12 by detectives with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and the Lake City Police Department, the sheriff’s office said.
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Authorities said Hutchings had been communicating over social media with an undercover detective with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office’s North Florida ICAC Task Force.
Despite knowing the “child’s” age, Hutchings described sexually explicit acts he intended to carry out, investigators said. He also asked about the child’s and parents’ daily schedules in order to plan when to travel, according to the sheriff’s office.
Hutchings was arrested as soon as he arrived to meet the child, authorities said.
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While inventorying his vehicle before it was towed, detectives said they found it had been recently cleaned and discovered a shovel and a tarp in the backseat. The sheriff’s office said this raised concern that Hutchings may have intended to commit additional, more heinous crimes.
Hutchings was booked into the Columbia County Detention Facility on a $400,000 bond, the sheriff’s office said. He faces the following charges:
- Using a computer to solicit a child
- Use of a two-way device to facilitate a felony
- Transmitting information harmful to minors
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Attempted sexual battery on a victim 12 to 17 years old by an offender 18 or older
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office credited the Lake City Police Department for its assistance in the arrest.
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