Registered Sexual Predator Attacks 13 Year Old

A thirteen-year-old Cedar Key girl became the recent victim of a local man who is a registered sexual predator. The girl`s mother informed the Cedar Key Police that her daughter had been attacked by Jeffery Earl Lashley, 43, of Cedar Key. The details of the case are limited and only released on July 18 because the victim is a juvenile. However, a Cedar Key Police report says that Lashley has been charged with sexual battery. Lashley had failed to register his current address, as is required of sexual offenders in Florida. He was transported to the Levy County Jail

Jeffery Earl Lashley

An unrelated, but serious case, resulted in a transient man being arrested at gun-point July 3. Police Chief Dan Swogger, after becoming aware of an extensive criminal record of a suspect, took Gale Clifford Young into custody and charged him with grand theft, petit theft and dealing in stolen property. Young was charged with the theft of a bicycle and assorted fishing gear from the vicinity of Old Fennimore Mill. Young, who gave Fort Walton Beach as an address, was transported to the Levy County Jail.

On July 12 the Cedar Key Police found a juvenile responsible for domestic battery. The juvenile had previously been involved in two cases of golf cart theft. The juvenile is no longer in Cedar Key.