Police: Valrico man traveled to Cape to have sex with ‘teen’
A man is accused of contacting a Cape Coral teen via the Internet, then traveling to the city with plans to engage in sexual acts with the girl.
Stephen Michael Kozak, 34, of 4110 Spring Way Circle, Valrico, Fla., was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Lee County Jail on use computer to seduce solicit lure child and travel to meet after use computer to lure child.
He remained in custody Friday afternoon on $100,000 bond.
According to police, a Cape couple discovered in September that their 14-year-old daughter was having inappropriate contact with Kozak via an online social networking site. He was believed to be a 15-year-old boy at the time.
The parents contacted the Cape police, which assigned the case to a detective who belongs to the FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force.
The child’s online account was taken over by authorities and contact was resumed with Kozak. According to police, Kozak engaged in graphic sexual conversations with the detective, whom Kozak still believed was the teen.
He allegedly said he wished to meet her and engage in sexual activity.
On Wednesday, Kozak again contacted the “teen” online and initiated a graphic sexual conversation. He expressed his desire to come to the Cape that day and engage in sexual contact with the girl, according to police.
Later that day, Kozak arrived at an undercover residence in Lee County, believing that he had arrived at the girl’s home. He was taken into custody.
Police reported that Kozak was in possession of condoms, and his car had a GPS device in it with the final destination entered as that of the residence.
“These parents did it right. There were involved in their child’s online activities and contacted police when they found something that wasn’t right,” Lt. Tony Sizemore, spokesman for the Cape police, stated in a
prepared statement.
“This is a disturbing case, but it goes to show that this type of criminal activity and danger can happen here, and it is very real,” he said.
Parents are urged to get involved in their children’s online activities.
“Please monitor what they access and who they communicate with online,” Sizemore stated.
Kozak has a court appearance scheduled Nov. 29.
According to Sizemore, the Innocent Images National Initiative – a component of the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Program – is an intelligence driven, proactive multi-agency investigative operation aimed at combating online child pornography and child sexual exploitation facilitated by a computer.
The initiative provides centralized coordination and analysis of case information that is national and international in scope, he reported. This requires coordination with state, local and international government and among FBI field offices and legal attaches.
The Cape Coral Police Department participates in this task force.