POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A 33-year-old man from Lithia is behind bars after Polk County sheriff’s deputies caught him trying to set up a sexual encounter with a girl he believed was 14 years old.
Undercover detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office placed a fake advertisement on a dating app for a man who was offering his 14-year-old daughter for sex. Perry Thomas Olson responded to the ad on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.
Olson texted the phone number listed in the ad, which was answered by an undercover detective. He immediately asked about the price, then went on to discuss the girl’s age and the details of the planned encounter. According to the sheriff’s office, Olson even inquired whether it was a trap.
At around 4 p.m., Olson texted that he had arrived at the arranged meeting spot. Detectives took him into custody right then. A search found him carrying $200 in cash, two condoms, and a bottle of lubricant.
“The suspect thought he was communicating and negotiating with a man who was going to let him have sex with his daughter for $200,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “The suspect even asked if it was a trap. Newsflash—it was a trap. And now there is one less dangerous pervert out there preying on innocent children, because we locked him up in the Polk County Jail.”
Olson was booked into the Sheriff’s Processing Center on charges that include Human Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Activity with a Victim under 18, Traveling to Meet Using a Computer to Solicit a Parent for Sex with a Minor, Attempting Lewd or Lascivious Battery on a Victim 12-16, Use of a Computer to Solicit a Parent or Guardian, and Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communication Device.
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