POLK COUNTY, Fla. (DDN) – Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says a West Palm Beach man accused of grooming a 14-year-old girl he met online chose the incorrect county to sexually assault a kid.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Emerick Priddy, 22, met the victim on Snapchat and persuaded her to sneak out of her home in the middle of the night to meet him.
According to deputies, Priddy went to the girl’s home from West Palm Beach, where she crawled out of a bedroom window and into his car.
Investigators say Priddy then drove her to a park, where they had intercourse in the backseat. When he met the victim online, he told her he was 17, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. When the girl told him she was 14, deputies say he said, “It’s probably just a one-time thing” and “I’m not worried.”
When deputies discovered Priddy’s Honda Civic in a parking lot just before 3 a.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2025, they reported that Priddy was in the backseat with the victim, and both were in various degrees of undress.
Priddy was arrested and charged with going to meet a minor for sex, lewd battery, transmitting harmful material to a kid, interfering with child custody, and using a two-way communication device in a felony.
“Emerick Priddy picked the wrong county to come to and sexually batter a child,” Judd pointed out. “He’s now facing five felonies and hopefully will be registered as a sexual offender for the rest of his life.”
Leave a Reply