State Attorney: North Carolina man jailed for molesting Clay County girl

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A man was arrested in North Carolina and returned to Clay County to face charges he repeatedly molested a girl who was younger than 12 years old in 2021.
Owen Phillip Passmore, 42, of Raliegh, North Carolina, was charged with four counts of sexual battery on a child younger than 12 and single counts of attempted capital sexual battery and lewd or lacisviious molestation after an investigation determined a girl was subjected to several sexual acts during April, 2021, according to the four-page information report filed by the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida.
Passmore was arrested in Union County, North Carolina, an area southeast of Charlotte along the South Carolina border. He was transported back to Clay County on Oct. 22.
Passmore’s bond was set at $400,006. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 6.

Middleburg teen charged with robbing the same spa three times

MIDDLEBURG – An 18-year-old was arrested on Oct. 20 following three separate robbery and robbery attempts of the same spa less than a half mile from his apartment, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said.
D’Eareo Jermayne Yahweh Harris was take to the Clay County Jail after being charged with three counts of burglary and one count of armed robbery after the owner of QQ Spa Massage on County Road 220 reported several break-ins at her place of business.
According to CCSO, the spree started on Sept. 23 when Harris entered the spa through an unlocked door and held the owner at gunpoint. The owner lived in the shop and she said the robber took her wallet that contained $1,000 in cash.
Surveillance video from adjoining businesses recorded a U-Haul van parked behind the business shortly before the holdup. Detectives with the Special Crimes Unit learned vans were rented at only one location in Clay County and U-Haul rented a van to someone who matched Harris’ description. Other surveillance videos also recorded Harris refueling the van at a convenience store on C.R. 200.
Then on Oct. 2, Harris is accused of trying to kick through a rear door of the spa. He also is suspected of trying to break into Digital Planet Shop in the same building before kicking through a non-public door leading to the residency of the spa owner on Oct. 17. The owner went outside after hearing the noise and she returned to her apartment to find her cellphone missing.
The sheriff’s office got a warrant on Oct. 19 for the Sept. 23 robbery and Harris was arrested during a traffic stop a day later.
His bond was set at $400,012

Man on probation caught with porn returned to Clay County from Washington

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office went all the way to East Wenatchee, Washington, to bring a man back to the county after the state said he violated the terms of his probation after he was found guilty of possession at least 21 images of a child having sex in 2016..
Derek Alan Greenwood, 45, is now being held in the Clay County Jail without bond after the Florida Department of Corrections said he lied to a probation officer about possessing new child pornographic materials, failed to complete a sex offender program and for viewing “obsence, pornographic or stimulating visual or auditory material, including telephone, electronic media computer programs or computer services that are relevant to you deviant behavior patterns.”
A warrant was issued on Sept. 12 for his arrest, and he was returned 2,885 miles to Clay County on Oct. 20.
Greenwood’s next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 6.

Jacksonville man charged with leaving dogs at Safe Animal Shelter in a crate

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A worker at the Clay Safe Animal Shelter found three dogs in a crate and an apology letter at the shelter’s entrance on Oct. 18 and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office was able to track down the owner after lifting fingerprints from the letter.
John Michael Story, 32, was charged with abandonment of an animal after an Animal Cruelty Investigator with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office sent the letter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, where they were able to match fingerprints to Story.
In the letter, the writer said he was moving and couldn’t take the dogs. All three were left without food or water.
When Sage Animal Shelter opened, a worker noticed one of the dogs was in “distress” and it was taken to a local veterinarian’s office for treatment, but the dog died in transit. One of the other dogs was diagnosed with epilepsy and an eye hemorrhage, while the other wad mange.
According to CCSO, Story said he tried to take the dogs to Clay County Animal Services, but he was turned away because the kennel was at capacity.
Story was released after posting a $252 bond.

FBI, CCSO track down man suspected of abusing a child at local motel

ORANGE PARK – With the help of the FBI, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man in St. Augustine after he was accused of “a child victim being exploited online.”
John Christopher Furlong, 33, was charged with lewd or lascivious battery of a child younger than 16 but older than 12 after investigators found photographs of Furlong on the victim’s phone. The battery happened at an Orange Park motel in 2021, according to the affidavit for arrest warrant. The affidavit also said the child was 12 at the time of the battery.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 14. Until then, he will remain in the Clay County Jail with a $125,003 bond.