A Sheridan man has been arrested and charged following an incident involving a juvenile female, according to authorities.
Officers with the Sheridan Police Department were dispatched around 11:45 p.m. on March 18 to the Sheridan Inn on North Rock Street after receiving information that a juvenile girl was attempting to meet with an adult male.
Authorities said the girl’s mother discovered text messages indicating her daughter planned to meet a man identified as “Josh,” with conversations suggesting a potential sexual encounter. The mother later reported that a vehicle had arrived at her residence with its headlights turned off.
An officer located the vehicle leaving the neighborhood and conducted a traffic stop, identifying the driver as 28-year-old Joshua Daniel Defoggi of Sheridan.
According to police, Defoggi told officers he believed the girl was 20 years old. Officers informed him the juvenile was 14. Investigators said the two had been communicating through text messages that were sexual in nature.
Defoggi was taken into custody and has since been charged with rape and sexual indecency with a child.
The case remains under investigation.
