Man caught offering to record himself teaching 13-year-old sex acts, Florida cops say

A cop masquerading as the father of a 13-year-old was presented with a disturbing arrangement when a man offered to teach the girl sex acts, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in North Florida.

The resulting search warrant led to Richard Heaton, 47, being charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Investigators say the Silver Springs resident implicated himself when he “responded to an undercover ad” on social media.

“Heaton corresponded with a law enforcement officer who was pretending to be the father of a 13-year-old girl,” the sheriff’s office said.

“Heaton offered to teach the presumed 13-year-old girl about a variety of sexual acts and said he would provide this service without charge, but that he would take photos and videos of her for his private collection.”

Homeland Security Investigations initially handled the case and established Heaton’s identity and home address in a Silver Springs duplex, officials said.

A search of the home was conducted Oct. 4, and “a forensic extraction” of Heaton’s laptop and cell phone “discovered a large collection of files that depicted child sexual abuse material,” the sheriff’s office said.

“Due to the nature of these crimes and Heaton’s conversations with the undercover HSI agent, Detective (Chase) King believes it is possible that (Heaton) may have had similar contact with children before,” the sheriff’s office said.

“MCSO is asking for anyone who has had this sort of contact with Heaton to contact Detective King at (352) 368-3586.”

Silver Springs is 85 miles northwest of Orlando.

This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Man caught offering to record himself teaching 13-year-old sex acts, Florida cops say."