CLEARWATER - Two Pinellas men face separate criminal charges after allegedly trying to set up sexual rendezvous with teenage girls they thought they had met online, authorities reported.
In both cases, the men were talking to undercover detectives. The first case occurred last month when Geoffrey B. George, 29, of St. Petersburg, began talking online with a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl, police reported. He set up a meeting, but when he showed up Aug. 10, he was arrested by Clearwater police. Prosecutors last week filed against George a formal charge of soliciting a minor for sex. George is being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $4,000 bail. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Wednesday, Pinellas sheriff's detectives arrested Joseph M. Santore, 26, of Dunedin on similar charges. Santore is accused of setting up a meeting with a girl he believed was 14. When he allegedly tried to meet the girl Wednesday, he was arrested. Santore also sent a nude photo of himself to the e-mail address he believed belonged to the girl, investigators said. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of $10,000 bail.
