PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — 25-year-old Ashley Meza was arrested and charged with harmful communication with a minor after detectives obtained an arrest warrant based on sexually explicit messages she sent to a 15-year-old, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received a call from a runaway teenager’s mother in May. The mother stated her child was with Meza.
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The mother also said to deputies that the teenager had received several sexually explicit messages from Meza on social media.
During the investigation, the teenager ran away from home again in July.
Investigators from the child protection team and the sheriff’s office interviewed the teen, who revealed that they first met Meza in March during a previous runaway incident.
The sheriff’s office says the teenager also disclosed that Meza visited their school, and a teacher witnessed them together outside the school premises. The teacher informed the teen’s mother, who then messaged Meza on Facebook, asking her to leave the teenager alone.
Detectives were able to get an arrest warrant on Thursday based on the sexually explicit messages. Meza was arrested and taken to the Putnam County jail. She was released on a 15,000 bond.
The sheriff’s office says Meza was a former corrections deputy with the sheriff’s office from 2019 to 2021. She has not been affiliated with the sheriff’s office since.
This is an ongoing investigation; no further information will be available at this time.
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