FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl and emailing recorded videos of their sex, authorities said.
Caleb Mason Wright, 27, was arrested Friday and charged with nine counts, including sexual assault and battery on a victim 16 or 17, promoting a sexual performance by a child and transmitting child pornography, according to Broward County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.
His bail is set at $54,000, according to online booking records.
According to an arrest report, the teenager’s father called Fort Lauderdale police in July after learning that Wright had been having sex with the girl for about a year, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
The girl, who lives in neighboring Miami-Dade County, told detectives she met Wright at a Comic-Con event in Miami in March 2019, the newspaper reported. She was 16 and Wright was 25 at the time. According to the arrest report, Wright told the girl to keep their relationship secret because of her age, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
The pair met for sex in Wright’s car, at his home and at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale, investigators said.
Within days, Wright emailed the girl videos that showed them engaging in sex, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Investigators collected the videos as evidence, the newspaper reported.
An arrest warrant was issued in August.
Wright made his first appearance in court on Saturday. His attorney, Bob Nichols, told the court that both families approved of the relationship until they found out the age difference.
“Caleb’s family thought she was over 18 (and) her family thought he was younger than he was,” Nichols said. “Everybody, pretty much, seemed (to think) eventually they would be getting married.”
The Broward assistant state attorney said Wright knew the girl was underage.
Nichols told Broward Judge Michael Lynch that Wright was already out on a $34,000 bond for the same case in Miami-Dade County because he emailed the videos to the teen.
“He’s being double thumped,” Nichols told Lynch. “So running up a bond, respectfully, that’s outrageous.”
Cox Media Group
