Man, 36, who hid in a 15-year-old girl's closet for more than a month - and snuck out to sexually abuse her when her parents left for work - gets 15 years in prison
Pictured: mugshot of Johnathan Rossmoine, 36, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to having sexual relations with a minor in Hernando County
A man managed to live in his underage girlfriend’s closet for weeks, police said, secretly dashing out occasionally to have sex with the 15-year-old girl – all while her parents were living in the house.
Authorities in Florida were amazed he was able to remain undetected for so long, slipping in and out of the girl's closet whenever her parents would leave the house for work.
Johnathan Lee Rossmoine was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to having sex with a minor, who he had met through the online virtual reality app VRChat, which uses avatars in place of actual photographs.
The girl had told investigators that Rossmoine was her boyfriend and that she initially told him she was 18 before admitting she was only 15 when they met in person, according to authorities. However, he did not attempt to end the relationship upon learning of her actual age, according to authorities.
Fox 13 reports that deputies with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office responded to a bizarre call at a home in Spring Hill in September 2020. The parents of a teenager reported that they had found a man hiding in their child's bedroom.
Police went upstairs and discovered the 36-year-old still in the closet.
Rossmoine told investigators he met the underage girl through the online app VR Chat which uses virtual avatars
Rossmoine was arrested and booked at the Hernando County District Court back in Sept 2020
A spokesman for Hernando County Sheriff's Office told Mail Online that 'children have too much free time... their online activities are not monitored by their parents'
The outlet says Rossmoine told deputies he had driven from his home state of Louisiana to Spring Hill, Florida, several times to have sex with the 15-year-old.
Police said he told them he had been living off and on in the teen's bedroom since August 2020, but had been there steadily in the weeks before they found him. He would hide in the closet when the victim's parents were home, only coming out when they left for work, according to HCSO.
'Although the specifics of this case were somewhat unusual, the basics are not. All too often children have too much free time, and their online activities are not monitored by their parents,' Hernando County Police Department spokesman Michael Terry told Mail Online.
The platform allows users to interact with others using 3D avatars. Investigators say on several occasions Rossmoine drove from Louisiana to Spring Hill to have sex with the victim.
'Adults who are communicating with children via social media for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity need to understand they will spend many years behind bars when caught.'
Rossmoine said there were numerous sexual encounters in his van, which was parked close to the victim's house.
He 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.
In addition to the 15-year sentence, Rossmoine will receive 10 years of sex offender probation upon his release and be required to report as a sexual offender for life.