He met a Florida teen on a dating app, then hid in her closet for weeks, police say

Almost a year after authorities found a Louisiana man hiding in a Florida teenage girl’s closet, he has been sentenced.

According to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, Johnathan Lee Rossmoine received 15 years with the Florida Department of Corrections, after pleading guilty to having sexual relations with a minor.

The case entered law enforcement’s radar in September 2020, after concerned parents in Spring Hill notified police that they found an adult male hiding in their daughter’s bedroom.

Deputies said when they arrived, they found Rossmoine in the closet. The 36-year-old told them he drove from Louisiana to Spring Hill several times to have sex with the 15-year-old. He added that he had been living “off and on” in the teen’s bedroom for roughly a month, coming out only when the parents went to work.

Rossmoine said the two also had “numerous sexual encounters” in his van, parked close to the victim’s house.

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Deputies said the victim first met Rossmoine about two years ago using an online chatting app. The girl, who referred to Rossmoine as her “boyfriend,” first told him she was 18 before admitting she was just 15 when they met in real life, investigators said.

Rossmoine was charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious behavior with a victim between the ages of 12 and 16, obscene communication and traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child.

He will also receive 10 years of sex offender probation upon his release and be required to report as a sexual offender for the remainder of his life.