JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A married Jacksonville couple has been indicted and accused of conspiring to sex traffic a young girl, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
Samuel Christopher Templeman, 46, and Deborah Lynn Templeman, 50, were arrested.
According to an indictment, the couple conspired to recruit, entice, harbor and solicit, among other things, a female child knowing she was under the age of 18 and would be caused to engage in a commercial sex act.
The indictment also charges that on Dec. 7, 2019, Deborah Templeman possessed a cellphone containing a video depicting a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
According to the DOJ, Samuel Templeman is also charged with sex trafficking a child, and Deborah Templeman is charged with possessing child sex abuse material.
News4Jax on Wednesday obtained an arrest report, which states that the underage girl was a runaway. According to the report, Samuel Templeman was found with a runaway child near Merrill Road.
Documents state that the underage girl told police she posted ads online and that she was taken to arranged “dates.”
News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson says online ads are common for child prostitution.
“There’s a market for that. That’s what some sex offenders look for as well as some sex offenders. They know the lingo, they know the code words and they know how to meet up with them and the pimp will always teach them how to do that so they can continue to get business,” Jefferson said.
The report shows the girl told police that she used the money she made from prostitution on drugs and for living expenses.