BONIFAY – A man found guilty of attempting to lure what he thought was a 15-year-old girl into sexual acts through social media was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
John Edward McGlaun, 61, of Westville, will face 15 years of Sexual Offender probation after Prosecutor Ben Keown successfully argued he should be sentenced as a Habitual Felony Offender. Circuit Court Judge Russell Roberts, who presided over the Sept. 28 trial, handed down the sentence.
“The defendant tried to conceal his true intentions, but the facts of the case showed that his real motive was to prey on what he believed to be a 15-year-old girl,” Keown said. “The Holmes County Sheriff’s Office was proactive in its work on this case. They do these types of investigations to protect the community and ensure people like this never get to a child victim. We will continue to prosecute them thoroughly and use the enhanced sentencing tools that are available.”
The defendant was arrested in June, 2022, and went to trial on Sept. 28. After Keown presented his case, a jury took only about 15 minutes to find the defendant guilty of Traveling to Meet a Minor to Commit an Unlawful Sexual Conduct.
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Keown called two witnesses: Holmes County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Bill Pate and Lt. Ricky Thompson.
Their testimony and evidence showed the defendant was in contact with who he believed to be a 15-year-old girl via Facebook Messenger and was attempting to talk her into meeting him for a sexual encounter. In fact, he was messaging with Inv. Pate, who was posing as a juvenile.
Through a series of messages the defendant arranged to meet the person for sex on June 21, 2022, at a Holmes County Park. McGlaun was arrested by deputies when he arrived at the park for the agreed-upon meeting.
Basford thanked the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office for its proactive work on the case and getting a sexual offender off the streets before he could victimize a child.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.