PANAMA CITY BEACH — Authorities have arrested a Vernon man who allegedly kept a missing teen for days at his motel while her family sought information on her whereabouts, according to court documents.
Shedrick Hudson Conner, 44, was arrested Monday on five counts of lewd and lascivious battery on the 16-year-old girl, who is mentally deficient. BCSO also has charged him with interfering with her parents’ custody. The juvenile had been sought by BCSO and her family for days after she disappeared during a walk Feb. 16 at about 8 a.m., according to BCSO reports.
BCSO officials said Conner became a suspect after he called investigators to get information on the girl’s whereabouts as the search was underway. During that time, the teen also posted a picture on Snapchat of herself and an unidentified man lying in bed together.
The grandmother of the victim said the picture was simultaneously alarming and reassuring.
“At least we knew she wasn’t on the streets,” the grandmother said. “But we didn’t know where she was, who this man was or if she was being mistreated.”
BCSO would later determine the 16-year-old was sexually battered during her time away from home, according to arrest records.
Following the family’s retrieval of the girl, who was found outside a Thomas Drive motel Feb. 20, BCSO made contact with the family to determine what occurred while she allegedly was staying with Conner, officers reported.
The teenager told investigators she’d become upset and left for a walk when she first encountered Conner at the same motel where she would later be found. She said Conner offered her some marijuana, which she declined, but accepted his invitation to stay with him, officers reported.
During the days she was at the motel, Conner allegedly had sexual intercourse with the teen five times despite her not giving consent and telling him that she was only 16 years old, she told investigators. Conner also did not report the teen’s whereabouts as local media outlets disseminated information on the girls’ disappearance.
After the picture surfaced on Snapchat and Conner allegedly called investigators to gather information about the missing teenager, BCSO developed Conner as their main suspect. The teen identified Conner as the man she’d been staying with, and he was arrested Monday, BCSO reported.
Conner, a student at Gulf Coast State Community College, was charged with five counts of lewd and lascivious battery and interfering in custody.