On Tuesday, Osceola deputies arrested Richard Anicola, 24, of 9 Miller Drive in Boonton Township, N.J., on 20 counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing false information to law enforcement during an official investigation. Deputies say Anicola was arrested for having sex with a 16-year-old girl.
Around 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday, at the ironic location of Seven Dwarfs Lane in Kissimmee, right off U.S. 192, deputies found Anicola and the 16-year-old girl. The girl’s father, who had reported his daughter missing, arrived shortly afterwards, saying he had gotten a tip that she was in the Kissimmee area with Anicola.
Deputies noted that a criminal check revealed that Anicola had an outstanding warrant out of Gwinnett County, Georgia for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and interference with custody by harboring a minor. Both charges were related to the 16-year-old girl who was with him, since she had been reported as a missing runaway from Georgia.
While deputies were questioning Anicola and the teenage girl, she “provided false identification to deputies indicating she was 19 years old,” noted Twis Lizasuain, public information officer for the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, in her report on the case.
Anicola was arrested at the scene and booked into the Osceola County Jail.
On the same day, deputies also arrested Carlos Alfaro-Lemus, 52, of 13 Dorset Drive in Kissimmee
and charged him with grand theft, theft from a person older Than 65, and fraudulent use of credit cards.
The investigation had started months ago, on Sept. 12, after an 82-year-old woman called the sheriff’s office to report that jewelry, a laptop computer and a credit card were missing from her home. The elderly victim told deputies she was fairly certain who had done it.
“She indicated in the month of August, more than $1,200 had been withdrawn from her bank account at several local stores and gas stations,” Lizasuain noted.
The victim also told deputies that she had recently allowed Lemus, a friend for more than 30 years, “to move in with her because she is elderly and a widow,” Lizasuain said. “She thought Lemus might have stolen the items. Lemus would help her at the house and drive her to run errands for minimal rent.”
Deputies investigated the credit card purchases, and confirmed that Lemus had made all of the transactions.
“They told the victim this information and she spoke with Lemus, who indicated he would return her jewelry and laptop computer if she would not press charges,” Lizasuain said.
But on Tuesday, when Lemus showed up at the woman’s home, something was missing, Lizasuain said, since he “did not have the victim’s personal property. Based on the information and evidence, Lemus was arrested and booked into the Osceola County Jail.”
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