Daytona Beach, FL – An Edgewater man ends up behind bars after police say he promised candy to an underage girl in exchange for sex.
49-year-old Paul A. Canales was arrested in an undisclosed part of Daytona Beach around 9:20 AM Thursday as part of an undercover sex operation, according to the city’s Police Department.
As of 7 PM Thursday, Canales – who works in the heating & air conditioning industry – is held at Volusia CountyJail on $17,500 bond.
It all started on January 20th when Canales sent an email to an undercover officer posing as a teenage girl, according to the arrest report.
Detectives say Canales and the officer spent weeks chatting online and texting on the phone, with the conversations turning sexual when Canales repeatedly asked the “girl” for a “sexy pic” or he sent photos of his erect penis.
DBPD says Canales sent her at least 6 different photos of his genitalia as well as others showing his home and himself between January 20th and February 11th.
According to the report, Canales told the officer “Your soooo cute you got me hooked” after she told him she was only 14 years old. He also said he had feelings for her and wanted to be her boyfriend.
The report noted that Canales and the “girl” exchanged nearly 3,000 messages and 4 phone calls – some of which had Canales talking about what he’d like to do to her sexually – before both agreed that she’d skip school on Thursday and get a hotel room at the beach.
Officers met Canales at the spot he’d agreed to meet the girl at and was taken into custody at that point. A search of Canales’ 2012 Ford F-150 turned up a large box of Trojan-brand condoms and a bag of Skittles he had promised to give to the “girl”, per the report.
When questioned afterward, Canales told officers “I deserve this” and admitted to sending the sexually explicit pictures with his cell phone. He also admitted to asking the girl for sex and that he intended to have sex with the girl when they met on Thursday. He also wrote an apology letter, per the report.
Canales is facing 4 felony charges, including using a computer to seduce a child, traveling to seduce a child, transmitting sexually explicit images to a child and using a 2-way device to commit a felony.
Paul A. Canales (mugshot courtesy VCJ)
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