- April 24, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
A 46-year-old Palm Coast man has been arrested in connection with harassing and sending sexually inappropriate messages to a 15-year-old girl over the course of two years.
The man, Jerome Byron Malerba, was arrested on Dec. 1 from the first block of Baltimore Lane in Palm Coast. He has been charged with two felonies, according to his arrest report: aggravated stalking and using a computer or device to seduce, solicit or lure a child.
Malerba allegedly sent multiple sexually inappropriate text messages, voicemails, phone calls and emails to the girl, the charging affidavit said, since 2020. The girl said in June 2022 he tried to solicit sex acts over text messages. The 46-year-old was instructed to cease contacting the girl, the affidavit said, but the man continued to do so.
He threatened to hurt her multiple times, the report said, if she did not respond to him, and even began to show up at her home and follow her. Malerba was issued injunctions on Nov. 17 to cease contact, and was charged on Nov. 20 with violating it.
The harassment was so bad it made the victim leave her home to stay elsewhere in the area, the report said.
Malerba was arrested and taken to the county jail, where he is being held on a $150,000 bond.
