John Jefferson
A Jamaican man illegally in the United States was arrested in the Florida panhandle last week for sex crimes involving a teenager, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Tommy Ford said Damian Gulgar, 44, is charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor and engaging in sexual intercourse without disclosing a positive HIV diagnosis.
Gulgar, who was arrested on Jan. 29, allegedly admitted to being HIV positive and being sexually involved with a teenager during an interview with law enforcement.
Ford said the office became aware of the crime when it received a report surrounding the sexual abuse of a child earlier in January. The teenage victim was then interviewed by the Child Protection Team at the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center, where the encounter with an adult man, later identified as Gulgar, was disclosed.
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The victim met Gulgar on a social media app and did not actually know who he was. Bay County authorities were able to successfully identify him as the suspect through techniques with crime analysts and search warrants.
Authorities also learned Gulgar was in the U.S. illegally after overstaying a visa once it expired, Ford said in a news conference.
The sheriff said the crime is “a very concerning situation” that involves a few things the office is working to combat: sexual abuse of children, children meeting and interacting with adults online, and illegal immigration.
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“Sexual abuse of children is something we are not going to tolerate. We’ve got zero tolerance for that. We’re proactive with that,” Ford said.
He also asked that parents monitor their kids’ social media accounts and educate them on the dangers of meeting up with people they have met online.
On the illegal immigration front – Ford said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was notified of Gulgar’s arrest, which placed him on an ICE hold.
“Once the state charges are resolved, then he’ll be turned into ICE custody,” Ford said.
He touched on illegal immigration in Florida, saying “the Biden administration did nothing” to help alleviate it and “put us in the situation we are in now.”
“This individual could be a sexual offender in Jamaica, or have a long rap sheet in Jamaica, we don’t have that information because they’re in the country illegally,” Ford said. “I’m glad that we finally have an administration that is willing to step up and address this issue, because this is the kind of stuff that continues to happen and it’s not something we are going to tolerate.”
While he didn’t share specifics, Ford said Bay County authorities arrested nine illegal aliens accused of criminal acts during the end of January and transported them to ICE detention facilities.
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