Ocala man travels to Winn-Dixie to meet decoy posing as 13-year-old girl for sex

A 50-year-old Ocala man was arrested by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office after he went to a local Winn-Dixie to meet a 13-year-old lure for sex.

According to the MCSO arrest report, on May 3, 2024, a man with the username “Mike Hunt” began communicating with a Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) agent who was posing on a social media app as a 13-year-old girl.

The man was later identified as Joseph Raymond Morin.

The report said Morin told the decoy he was “30 years old” and lived in Marion County. The decoy responded by stating she was 13 and had recently moved to the Marion Oaks area from Arizona.

In numerous social media messages, Morin allegedly described sexual acts to the bait. After the bait reiterated that she was 13, Morin responded that “age is just a number.” He then suggested they meet the following week for “lunch or something” at the Winn-Dixie Mall on Marion Oaks Boulevard, the report said.

For a period of two weeks, from May 6 to May 20, 2024, communications between Morin and the decoy were interrupted. The report stated that “communications (were) sporadic and were no longer reciprocal between the two of them” until June 3, 2024.

Morin once again suggested to the appellant that she meet him for lunch near Winn-Dixie. He then allegedly sent her a message regarding several sexual acts, including an explicit description of oral sex. The report stated that Morin told the appellant that if she was “five years older” he would “teach her some things.”

According to the report, Morin allegedly stated in messages to the decoy that he was “erect” and “rubbing his penis” while communicating with her.

While these communications continued, Morin allegedly created another profile on the same social media app and began communicating with the same lure. Law enforcement quickly realized that the second profile belonged to Morin.

The report states that while using the second profile, Morin told the baiter that he wanted to “eat her sweet little (insult)” and “do (insult) to her.” After sending the bait a link to a Facebook profile with photos of himself, the bait agreed to meet him at the Winn-Dixie supermarket located at 184 Marion Oaks Boulevard.

On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, MCSO detectives observed Morin’s pickup truck pull into a parking spot in front of a Dollar General store located near the Winn-Dixie supermarket. Detectives made contact with him and detained him in handcuffs.

During an interview with investigators, Morin allegedly admitted to traveling from Citrus County to Winn-Dixie to meet a 13-year-old girl. He also confirmed that he communicated with the decoy posing as the teen on his phone, of which he is the only user, according to the report.

Morin also allegedly told detectives that he had spoken with Bait about the possibility of performing oral sex on her, and that he had “planned to do so” inside his vehicle in the Dollar General store parking lot.

Morin was arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he is currently being held without bail. He is charged with traveling to meet a minor for unlawful sexual contact, using a computer to solicit a child and using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.

According to jail records, no court date has yet been set.