Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/207831
CRIME BLOTTER The Silvertooth Judicial Center is in downtown Sarasota. File photo FORMER COAST GUARD OFFICER SENTENCED FOR SEX CRIMES On Tuesday, Nov. 4, a 46-year-old former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard was sentenced to 12 years in prison on sex offense charges resulting from an undercover operation conducted by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. communication with an undercover agent to solicit sexual activity with a child believed to be 8 years of age." The report adds that he sent numerous emails and chat messages "describing various sexual acts that he wanted to perform" with the child. Deputies arrested Shawn Connelly Gray, a former Miami resident, on May 12, 2012, and charged him with two felony counts: Use of a Computer to Solicit a Parent to Commit Sex with a Minor and Travel to Solicit a Child to Commit Sex Acts. He was sentenced in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Sarasota. On May 12, he traveled from Miami to Sarasota County "with the intent to engage in sexual activity with a person he believed to be a minor," the report continues. Gray's prison time will be followed by 18 years of sex offender probation, according to the sentence. He also was ordered to have no According to the report, from May 7 to May contact with children and to undergo a men12, 2012, Gray communicated via the Internet tal health evaluation. with a person he thought was a parent or legal guardian of a person under the age of 18. He is designated a sex offender and is now Utilizing the screen name "jdsf18c," the report a five-time convicted felon, according to the says, he "knowingly and willingly engaged in Sheriff's Office.