Jeffords Park in the heart of downtown Sylvester is where police say 48-year-old John Deguire thought he was meeting a 14-year-old girl for sex.
"He thought up until yesterday when we made contact...he was sitting at the location awaiting contact with this 14-year-old female," said Sylvester Police Investigator Ronnie Graddy.
For the past few weeks, detectives say Deguire had engaged in sexual conversations with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl. It turns out, the conversation was actually with an undercover Sylvester Police investigator.
"All we do is chat. And once they cross that line is when the investigation begins," says Graddy. He says the department recently had two investigators train with the USDOJ's Internet Crimes Against Children division, equipping the department with the tools necessary to track down potential child predators.
The conversations, he said, were carried out on Yahoo chat.
Investigators would soon realize the man wanting to meet a minor for sex not only lived a town over in Tifton, but was a former Sylvester cop.
"He arranged to meet and we gave a location and he shows up," said Graddy.
We learned that Deguire not only worked as a cop but was at one time employed by the Worth County School System as a bus driver and a substitute teacher.
While there is no record of any prior sex crimes against Deguire, police say this case alone should serve as a wake up call to parents to monitor their kids on the internet.
"You need to follow up and see if they are chatting with who they say they are and that none of it crosses the line and that none of it is explicit or inappropriate," said Graddy.
"This isn't Mayberry. This is Sylvester. We're a small rural community. But we're going to prosecute and we're going to enforce to make our streets as safe as a possible," he said.
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DeGuire is charged with computer child exploitation, intent to commit child molestation, enticing a child for indecent purposes and computer pornography.
The Worth County School System told us they do not know Deguire last substituted, but is no longer an employee of the system.
According to his Facebook page he obtained a degree in middle grades education.
He's being held in the Worth County Jail without bond.
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