KEYSTONE HEIGHTS, Fla. – People in one Keystone Heights neighborhood are on edge after a man was arrested for allegedly molesting a child. It's the second type of sex offense case investigated in the same mobile home park this year.
In January, 52-year-old Francis "Frank" Miller (booking photo below) was arrested and charged with molesting two children under the age of 12, as well as possession of child pornography.
Now another man, Rocky Sluss, has been arrested for allegedly molesting a child under the age of 12 in the same mobile home park.
Sluss had been interviewed by Channel 4's Scott Johnson back in January and said at that time it didn't seem like Miller was doing anything out of the ordinary.
"There's a lot of kids here but I've never seen him in any way out of the ordinary with kids," Sluss said.
Sluss was interviewed at the mobile home park on State Road 100 last January after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement sting on Miller in which agents said they tracked him through his computer and he was arrested for possessing child pornography.
Along the way, investigators said they determined he had molested a child under the age of 12 and were concerned there might be more victims.
And now, hearing that Sluss had been arrested on the same charge in the same mobile home park, News4Jax spoke to the property's landlord, who asked not to be identified but said his name was Ron, to ask whether or not parents in the neighborhood need to be worried.
"We do the background checks and (Sluss) never had a record whatsoever. You can only do so much. But there was no record on him at all. We did a background check and this is the first time he's ever been in jail," Ron said.
Ron said he runs background checks on every resident and said Sluss (booking photo, left) had no prior arrests for sex crimes. He said that Miller was from Canada and it was harder to pin down if he had a criminal record.
"We do background checks on everybody before they come in. (And if they do have a bad record) we don't want them," Ron said.
People who live in area, like Eric Mortimer, are not happy that a second arrest, for the same crime, happened near where they live.
I think it's horrible. People need to do something. I wouldn't let my kids in that trailer park. Period," Mortimer said.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said this is a wake-up call for parents. He said always check the FDLE sex offender registry for your neighborhood, and just know that some people have never been caught.
"Even thought people may not be registered there, they may be in the neighborhood. You can't assume that everyone in the neighborhood is OK because sex crimes are grossly under reported crimes. Around 80 percent of sex crimes are not reported," Smith said.
To check if sex offender are in your neighborhood, follow the link to the FDLE sex offenders list.