DUNNELLON, Fla. — Authorities on Wednesday arrested a man who took an Ohio girl he intended to make his wife back to his Florida home.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office in central Florida in a social media post said Thomas Ebersole, 31, was arrested for traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity, interfering with child custody and sheltering an unmarried minor.
The FBI on Wednesday contacted a detective from the Florida sheriff's office for assistance in locating a 16-year-old missing from Ohio. Investigators found that both the girl's and Ebersole's accounts on World of Warcraft, an online video game, had been used at a home in Dunnellon, Fla. later confirmed to be Ebersole's home address.
Ebersole initially denied knowing the 16-year-old, according to authorities, but later admitted he had driven to Ohio to meet her and then brought her back to his central Florida home.
He also told authorities he was "in a romantic relationship with the juvenile victim and was going to hide her in his home with plans for her to become his wife," the sheriff's office said.
Messages over Discord, a messaging app commonly used by people playing online video games together, that Ebersole gave to authorities "further outlined his plans to meet the victim in Ohio and engage in sexual activity despite knowing that he was committing a crime," according to the sheriff's office.
Ebersole is under arrest in the Marion County Jail in Florida without bond.
The Lima Police Department in western Ohio also confirmed that it is involved in an FBI investigation into Ebersole that involved crossing state lines.
