PLANTATION, Fla. – A 73-year-old man was arrested Wednesday after he sent sexually explicit messages to a 14-year-old girl he met at the church where he volunteered, then drove to a Plantation mall to meet her for sex, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Plantation police began investigating in August after the girl's family claimed Timothy Taffe was seeking an inappropriate relationship with the teenager.
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According to the complaint, Taffe met the girl in July during game night at the church. Taffe continued to speak with the girl at church functions, complimenting her physical appearance, taking pictures of her and attempting to meet with her outside of church, the complaint said.
The FBI said Taffe started sending the girl emails in August. The messages included asking her to be his secret friend, soliciting her to meet him in private, offering her a place to live and promising her a glass of wine.
According to the report, in their last encounter at the church, Taffe asked the girl, "When are you going to give it up?" and "How long do I have to wait?"
The girl's grandmother eventually found out about the emails and asked Taffe to "leave her granddaughter alone," the report said.
Authorities obtained the alleged emails and sent an email to Taffe from the girl's account in September. The email claimed that the girl had gotten a cellphone, prompting Taffe to ask for the number, the FBI said.
Federal agents posing as the girl exchanged several text messages with Taffe, who sent photos he had secretly taken of her, along with photos of his erect penis, the FBI said.
Taffe sent text messages about, among other things, oral sex, asking her to go to Planned Parenthood to get birth control pills and preparing for their sexual encounter, the complaint said.
Authorities took Taffe into custody after he drove to the Westfield Broward mall at the arranged meeting place and time, according to the report.
Taffe admitted to sending explicit text messages to the girl, the report said. He faces a federal charge of enticement of a child.