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ALEX LEARYInvestigators say the New Port Richey man told them he had intercourse with an underage girl.
NEW PORT RICHEY - A 39-year-old man who told authorities he seduced an underage girl with pornography and had sex with her more than 20 times was arrested Thursday following an FBI investigation.
Pasco County sheriff's deputies arrested Mark Daniel Gross, 6445 Westside Drive, New Port Richey, at his home on multiple charges of capital sexual battery, lewd and lascivious behavior and showing obscene material to a minor.
Gross, who was being held without bail, also could face federal charges. The FBI refused comment Friday because it is an open case.
According to the Pasco arrest report, the girl told investigators that Gross forced her to have sex and used sex toys on her. She said Gross showed her pornographic materials on the Internet that depicted both adults and children. The girl was 10 when the abuse began, the report said. She is now 11.
Gross admitted to Detective Peter Weekes he had intercourse with the girl "more than 20 times but less than 50 times" and performed and received oral sex, the report said. The last contact was in March, Gross said.
"He said he stopped "because she did not appear to be enjoying it,' " Weekes wrote in the report.
One question not answered in the report is how Gross came to know the girl. The report only refrences Gross saying that he seduced the victim using computer pornography and pornographic videos.
This is not the first time Gross has faced sex related charges involving minors. State records show he was arrested in 1987 by Treasure Island police for a lewd and lascivious act in the presence of a child under 14.
Gross was convicted, records indicate, and was later arrested for violating terms of his probation. He also has a 1987 arrest for battery.
The new arrest stems from an investigation by the FBI's Innocent Images National Initiative, which targets Internet child molesters. Begun in 1995, the program has opened 10,000 cases and resulted in 3,000 convictions, FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said.
"There are a lot of predators online who desire the anonymity of the Internet and feel it provides them a safe haven to conduct business," Bresson said. "While there's some truth to that, we do have some ways through law enforcement to identify those people."
One way is having agents pose as children, in chat rooms or other online forums, to see if adults come on to them. Pedophiles usually begin by "grooming" victims, Bresson said. They try to determine their interests, either in movies, clothes or sports, then progress to sexual conduct. The most dangerous try to lure children to a face-to-face meeting.
On Friday evening, Gross was at an area hospital. He was taken there by authorities after his arrest Thursday, complaining of chest pains.
- Alex Leary can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is leary@sptimes.com