A Miami man is accused of traveling to Polk County to kidnap and sexually batter a 10-year-old girl whom he met online.

Deputies arrested 23-year-old Jonathan Fundora on Tuesday night.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that Fundora is an avid player of video games and met the 10-year-old girl in an online chat room. Judd said Fundora continued to communicate with the girl online and spent six weeks grooming her for a sexual encounter with him.

Judd said that Fundora drove from Miami to Polk County to meet the girl, then picked her up and took her to a Motel 6 where he had gaming systems for the two of them to play.

The girl’s guardian called 911 after seeing that she was not at home and had left a note on her bed that said she went to be with female friends and would be gone for 2-3 days.

Polk deputies inspected the girl’s electronic devices and discovered she had been communicating with Fundora, “She was being groomed by a sex predator,” said Sheriff Grady Judd.

Deputies then went to every motel near the girl’s home and found Fundora’s car in the parking lot of the Motel 6. They knocked on the door of Fundora’s motel room. 

“He opened the door wearing his underwear,” said Judd.

Sheriff Judd praised the quick work of his deputies, who found the girl 35 minutes after her guardian called 911 to report her missing.

Judd said the girl was hiding in the bathroom and was wearing a dog collar and had a pacifier attached to a ribbon that she wore around her neck.

“This is one of the most sick things you can imagine,” said Judd. “She was his toy.”

The sheriff said that his deputies save the girl’s life because in many cases children end up dead at the end of these types of encounters.

Judd said Fundora confessed. He was arrested and charged with:

  • Kidnapping 
  • Sexual Battery by a Suspect over 18 on a Victim under 12 
  • Traveling to Meet a Minor 
  • 5 counts Possession of Child Pornography 
  • 3 counts Directing the Sexual Performance of a Child 
  • 2 counts Use of a Computer to Seduce a Child 

Sheriff Judd said Fundora could face even more charges.

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