Gainesville man arrested in underage sex sting

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – John Thomas Allen III, 25, was arrested yesterday and charged with sending obscene material to a juvenile, sending harmful material to a juvenile, traveling to meet a juvenile after communicating with them for the purpose of luring them to have sex, and use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony.

As part of a sting operation by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, an undercover officer reportedly contacted Allen on September 28 on a social media website, posing as a 14-year-old girl. When he was told that the girl was in eighth grade, Allen reportedly responded, “Oh ok, well we could see if we like each other, but you can’t tell anyone.” When Allen asked the “girl” if his age bothered her, the officer responded that she was a virgin.

Allen allegedly sent a picture of himself in his underwear, then followed it with pictures of his genitalia and a video showing him masturbating. Allen allegedly asked the “girl” to meet him for the purpose of having sexual intercourse. Over the next two days, he allegedly sent more pictures and videos of a sexual nature and told the “girl” he would bring lubricant so intercourse would not hurt her. He allegedly wrote, “How fun and nice it is going to be having sex with you.”

The officer set up a meeting at a gas station in Gainesville, and Allen was taken into custody without incident.

Post Miranda, Allen reportedly admitted to “chatting” with a 14-year-old girl and sending her fully nude photos of himself and his genitalia.

Allen has one felony conviction from a 2018 incident in which he was charged with stalking and burglary but entered a plea of nolo contendere to the burglary charge in return for dropping the other charges; he was sentenced to three years of probation and successfully completed the sentence. He was arrested for domestic battery in 2022, but the charges were dropped. Bail information is unavailable on weekends.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.