DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – A man is facing two felony charges after Broward County deputies said he offered to pay a woman $60 so he could sexually abuse a 7-year-old girl. But they said he was actually talking to an undercover Minnesota detective.
Authorities arrested Thomas William Dempsey, 38, of Deerfield Beach, on Thursday. The Broward Sheriff’s Office announced his arrest on Friday.
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According to BSO, the Owatonna, Minnesota Police Department alerted its South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators to Dempsey on Feb. 23.
They said during an online chat investigation, Dempsey was “seeking to engage in a sexual encounter with a child.”
According to an arrest warrant, investigators encountered Dempsey in a chat room on the messaging app Kik.
“During the online operation, Dempsey provided the undercover OPD detective his cellphone number and asked the undercover OPD detective to share it with a woman, who he believed would allow him to participate in a sexual act with a minor,” BSO spokesperson Gerdy St. Louis said in a news release.
Deputies said Dempsey “agreed to pay the woman $60 to engage in a sexual activity” with the girl at a Tamarac hotel room.
“He also told the undercover ICAC detective he was a ‘good tipper’ and would pay for the hotel room,” St. Louis said.
According to the warrant, at one point, Dempsey told the undercover detective, “Just so u know I am married” when explaining why he couldn’t always reply to text messages.
Deputies arrested Dempsey, who lives near Deerfield Park Elementary School, on one count of solicitation of a minor to engage in sexual conduct and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
He was being held in the BSO Main Jail on a $27,500 bond as of Friday.