CLEWISTON, Fla — A City of Clewiston operations director is facing serious charges - accused of sending sexually explicit texts to a 12-year-old girl.
Fox 4’s Hendry County Community Correspondent Austin Schargorodski works in the area daily, so he received a copy of Jose Enrique Soto’s arrest report, and here’s what it says happened.
Watch to see what Austin found in the arrest report:
According to the report from the Clewiston Police Department, the victim told investigators this all started the summer of 2023 when she was just 11-years-old. The report states 46-year-old Jorge Enrique Soto, her mother’s boyfriend, starting sending the girl inappropriate text messages.
The report shows the victim described “an incident with Mr. Soto had taken place around one year ago, consisting of Mr. Soto texting her to come in his room at three in the morning, as he was known to be up all night doing cocaine.”
The report says when the girl walked in, Soto was wearing only boxers and rubbing himself inappropriately.
Then, by New Year’s Eve, the report states the victim “was looking at New Year’s dresses in front of Mr. Soto. The victim explained that Mr. Soto informed her to wear a dress that was revealing compared to other dresses.”
The next day, January 1st 2024, the report says someone close to the girl contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), saying the situation was getting out of hand.
During a forensic interview, DCF said the girl showed an investigator screenshots of messages, and “mentioned other text messages from Mr. Soto to the victim consisted of him informing her to come in the bathroom in the home for the purpose of pleasure.”
Another witness said they’d known about Soto’s behavior since the summer but didn’t report it out of fear - telling investigators Soto had threatened to kill them if they spoke out.
The report shows interviews also revealed that when the girl confronted Soto by text, saying she was just a child, he allegedly responded by saying she, quote, “didn’t look like one.”
According to Soto’s Hendry County Sheriff’s Office booking report from May 21st, he’s been charged with using a computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
Clewiston’s mayor, James Pittman, said Soto was responsible for electric utility, the water and sewer plant, and has been a city employee for just over a month. Now, Pittman says Soto no longer employed by the city.
