The suspects believed they were meeting a 13-year-old girl to have sex.

Staff report

SHALIMAR — An undercover investigation by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has led to the arrests of at least two men for allegedly trying to meet up with who they thought was a 13-year-old girl to have sex.

According to an arrest report from the Sheriff’s Office, the first investigation began Dec. 28 when an undercover officer put an advertisement on Craigslist telling users to “stay away from a Google email address because it was a 13-year-old female attempting to meet with an adult male to have a sexual encounter.”

A man later identified as Jeramy George Rasmussen, 32, of Shalimar, contacted the email address on Dec. 30. In ensuing conversations, the undercover officer again reaffirmed the girl’s age. The communications eventually transferred to Kik, a mobile messaging application, where they became more explicit.

According to the report, Rasmussen discussed several sex acts he wanted to perform with the girl. Rasmussen also sent a picture of himself, which assisted in confirming his identity to investigators, and requested facial pictures of the girl.

Rasmussen already was a registered sex offender with the Sheriff’s Office, stemming from a child pornography conviction in 2008. Investigators in the latest case determined Rasmussen had not properly registered his email account and Internet identifiers, a requirement for sex offenders under Florida law, the report said.

Rasmussen was arrested Jan. 5 and charged with using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, using a computer to seduce a child and failure to register as a sex offender. He is being held in the Okaloosa County Jail on $10,000 bond for the first charge and $100,000 bond for each of the second and third charges.

Another man, 23-year-old James Robert Alan Youmans of Fort Walton Beach, was arrested Jan. 3 after traveling from Fort Walton Beach to a “predetermined location” to have sex with who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. The “girl” was the same undercover officer, but Youmans responded to a separate Craigslist ad.

According to his arrest report, the predetermined location was given to Youmans via a cellphone text. Youmans was taken into custody when he arrived.

Youmans was charged with using a two-way communications device to commit a felony, using a computer to seduce a child and traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child. He is being held in the Okaloosa County Jail on $10,000 bond for each of his charges.