Man caught hiding in 15-year-old’s closet had been there for weeks, Florida deputies say
A Louisiana man accused of hiding in a 15-year-old’s bedroom and assaulting her on several occasions had been there for more than a month, according to Florida authorities.
Hernando County sheriff’s deputies arrested Johnathan Rossmoine, 36, on Sunday after the teen’s parents found him hiding at their Spring Hill home, in their daughter’s bedroom.
Rossmoine is now charged with “numerous sex crimes” after admitting to deputies that he had made multiple trips from Louisiana to Spring Hill to have sex with the teen, the sheriff’s department wrote on Facebook. On this latest trip, deputies said Rossmoine had been in Hernando County about five weeks before he was caught.
The victim’s parents were tipped off when they heard noises coming from the girl’s bedroom, FOX 13 reported.
“He and the young lady came up with the idea that he could just stay in her room if he hid in the closet whenever the parents came in,” Hernando County Sheriff’s Office Det. Tom Cameron told FOX 13. “They kept the bedroom door closed and locked.”
Investigators said Rossmoine had been living on and off in the teen’s room since Aug. 19 and would only come out when her parents left for work.
“Whenever someone came to the door it gave them an opportunity to run and hide in the closet and open up the door to where maybe she was changing or something,” Cameron said, according to FOX 13.
Deputies said Rossmoine also admitted to having “numerous sexual encounters” in his van, which was parked near the victim’s house.
He and the teen first met two years ago on a virtual chatting app that allows users to send text and voice messages using 3D avatars, investigators said.
Rossmoine was charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, obscene behavior and traveling to meet a child for sexual purposes, online jail records show.
He was booked into the Hernando County Jail and remains held on $25,000 bond.
The sheriff’s office said more charges are possible as it continues investigating.
