- May 2, 2024
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Jermie Groves, 33, was arrested after speaking with an undercover officer he thought was a 15-year-old girl.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
An Ormond Beach man was arrested after posting handwritten flyers at a Walgreens store looking for a “friend with benefits.”
Jermie Groves, 33, posted the flyers, which included his personal information and a pornographic image of a woman and indicated he was looking for someone starting at 15 years old for a mixed martial arts program, according to the report. He was arrested March 28, and charged with lewd and lascivious conduct by a person 18 years old or older and violation of probation.
The Walgreens manager notified police of a suspicious person, later identified as Groves, according to the report, who requested to post flyers at the store, 790 W. Granada Blvd., which he told her were for mixed martial arts.
The manager denied Groves’ request, but later found a stack of flyers on the front counter, as well as others throughout the store.
The investigation later revealed Groves had posted a similar flyer on a pole outside Ormond Beach Elementary School.
An undercover officer with the Ormond Beach Police Department called Groves and said she was a 15-year-old girl and was interested in the “friends with benefits program,” which was mentioned in the Walgreens flyer as one of Groves’ mixed martial arts programs.
Groves asked her to give him the code at the bottom of the flyer, according to the report, and after she did, he told her she could participate in the program if her father signed a permission form because of her age.
Another officer talked to Groves as if he was the undercover officer’s father, and gave his permission for the mixed martial arts program.
During several phone conversations, over the course of approximately an hour, the undercover officer and Groves agreed to meet, discussed the sexual nature of the proposed encounter and talked about the undercover officer being 15 years old, in addition to Groves agreeing to supply condoms.
Groves initially wanted the undercover officer to come to his home, and also to meet his wife, but the officer said she was at a hotel and her father was gone.
At one point during the conversations, Groves told the officer he was in the hotel parking lot and wanted her to step outside and tell him what she looked like, which the officer did. Groves then told the officer they couldn’t meet up because it didn’t feel right, the officer noted in the report.
Based on the conversations, officers responded to Groves’ address and transported him to the police department, where he was read his Miranda rights and interviewed by investigators.
Groves, according to the police report, admitted to making the flyers and trying to distribute them at local stores. Officers reported he explained the sexual nature of a “friends with benefits relationship,” but also said he didn’t mean to include that on the flyer.
Before stopping the interview, Groves admitted to speaking on the phone with the undercover officer, who he thought was 15 years old, and speaking to her about sex. However, according to the report, Groves said he wanted to help her.
Groves was on probation, out of Stark County, Ohio, for possession of an illegal weapon, and was charged for violating that probation.
Groves’ previous criminal charges include loitering/prowling, assault, driving without a driver’s license and attempted first-degree murder.
