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Missing girl found after being lured from home
A Plant City area teen has been found safe after investigators say 38-year-old Edward Rodriguez in Broward County lured her away from home.
PLANT CITY, Fla. - A man is behind bars and a missing Plant City teen has been safely located after law enforcement officers say the pair met on social media, and he convinced her to leave home in the middle of the night.
"This is a person who, without a doubt, is a predator and was preying on this young teenager," said HCSO spokesperson Amanda Granit.
Broward County deputies arrested Edward Rodriguez and charged him with lewd and lascivious molestation and interference with child custody.
Investigators say he met the Plant City teen on a social media site, then convinced her to leave her home at between 1 and 3 a.m. on Saturday.
"She went a step above and beyond to kind of conceal where she was going," said Granit. "She took her mother's phone so that she was unable to call police right away."
Edward Rodriguez mugshot courtesy of the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says the unfortunate thing about improving technology is that predators adapt as well.
They say it's critical for parents to know what platforms their kids are on and to understand and use the proper privacy settings.
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"Making sure that they know what platforms their children are on and who they might be communicating with in the same way that you would want to know whose house they're going to and who they're spending their time with," said Stacy Garrett of NCMEC.
One problem is that, because they're so used to talking with actual friends online, they often don't see a difference in striking up conversations with those they encounter online.
Edward Rodriguez makes his first appearance in a Broward County courtroom.
"Even when they're very young, to start having age-appropriate, those conversations about safety and really making sure they understand potential risks," Garrett explained.
Rodriguez heard his charges in court Wednesday afternoon.
HCSO says it's all proof that a parent must be involved, even after they've handed a teen a digital device.
"That is a person that is disgusting and has no place in our community," said Granit.
A judge in Broward County gave him a bond of $32,500 and ordered him not to communicate with any minors, including the one who he is accused of luring from her home in Plant City.
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