A Sanford man has been arrested, charged with lewd and lascivious exhibition and transmission of harmful information toward a minor, police said.
A Georgia detective posing as a 14-year-old child in an internet sting operation was able to catch 39-year-old Robert Hale of Cardinal Cove Circle, in Sanford engaging in inappropriate acts while he was talking in an internet chat room whom he though was a minor. Investigators said, Hale, was in fact chatting with the undercover Georgia detective.
Police said, Hale engaged in these inappropriate behaviors at his workplace, Roses Southwest Papers on St. Johns Parkway.
Sanford Police along with the FBI obtained a search warrant for Hale’s place of business. An office computer and personal computers were seized for examination for other inappropriate chat sessions.
Hale was arrested on Wednesday, April 27, and booked into the Seminole County Jail on a $10,300 bond.
Sanford police said, based on the results of the examination of the computers, more charges could be filed.