A local elementary school custodian faces a string of sex crime charges after luring someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl from Louisiana to Miami for sex.
Samuel Woodside, 45, of Miami was arrested Saturday when he arrived at the bus station to pick up the girl, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
In reality, Woodside had been communicating with an undercover officer the whole time, CBS Miami reports, and is now being held without bond.
Woodside resigned Sunday from his position as head custodian at Liberty City Elementary School, NBC 6 reports.
Investigators allege he communicated with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl living in East Baton Rouge Parish in July and August. Woodside spoke with her online and by phone, sending sexually explicit photos, before inviting her to visit him in Miami for sex. He told the girl she could make money for him by having sex with other people, too.
After sending the girl a bus ticket and arriving to pick her up at the station, Woodside was charged with human trafficking, travelling to meet a minor for unlawful sex, luring and enticing a minor to commit an unlawful act, interference with custody, and sending harmful materials to a minor. Louisiana also has separate charges against Woodside.
The investigation was conducted by the FDLE’s Miami Regional Operations Center, South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Miami-Dade School Board Police.