'Just plain scary': Adult male demands girl, 14, send him nude pics, threatens to rape her, kill her and her family, cops say



An adult male demanded that a 14-year-old girl send him nude photos and threatened to rape and kill her — and kill her family — if she didn't, Florida authorities said.

What are the details?

David McGinness, 20, began talking to a 14-year-old girl on Snapchat after viewing a photograph the girl posted publicly, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said.

Once learning his age, the girl stopped replying to McGinness — but a few months later McGinness re-engaged the victim, demanding nude photographs, the sheriff's office said.

When the victim refused, McGinness "began to make absolutely vile threats to rape and kill the victim and the victim’s family members," Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said.

"McGinness went as far as to tell the victim he knew where they lived and would be there within an hour if the victim didn’t comply," Ivey noted, adding that McGinness "demonstrated that he actually knew the victim’s address because the victim’s location services were turned on for the 'Snap Map' allowing [him] to see where the victim was."

Ivey said the girl told her parents what going on and that McGinness was arrested Thursday after Agent Stanton Wimer from the agency's Special Victims Unit "obtained an arrest warrant for his sorry carcass for electronic threats to kill, extortion, lewd or lascivious conduct, and computer solicitation of a child."

The sheriff added that "McGinness is now safely behind bars in Indian River County where he was arrested on our warrant even though he pinky promised he wasn’t going to actually hurt anyone."

Ivey added that McGinness' total bond is $76,000 and that he "will soon find his way to 'Ivey’s Iron Bar Lodge' where I’m sure he will encounter a whole different kind of social media interaction with his new cellmates and friends."

'Just plain scary'

The sheriff called the whole thing "just plain scary" and cautioned parents to monitor their children's Internet use.

"I always tell parents that there is no better time than right now to talk with their children about Internet and social media safety," Ivey said in the news release.

"As parents, we want to allow our children to enjoy life, but we also want to do everything possible to keep them safe — so if you allow your children to use social media or things connected to the internet, please routinely check all of the parental controls, privacy settings, and [take] any other measures possible to make sure that people like McGinness can’t get to them!" he said.

Ivey added to parents that they should "always remember monitoring everything they do is not an invasion of their privacy, it’s just simply keeping them safe!"

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Mother-daughter duo nabbed in drug bust 'methed up and found out,' Florida sheriff says



Florida law enforcement officers arrested a mother-and-daughter duo on several drug charges Saturday, joking on Facebook that the pair had "methed up."

"Well, folks, it's time for this week's episode of 'Methed Up and Found Out,'" Brevard County Sheriff's Office wrote in a Facebook post peppered with humor.

Deputy David Guzman stopped Michell Lee Cannon, 43, and Jazmine Lee Cannon, 22, in Port St. John for expired tags.

Deputy Guzman, assisted by Deputy Darien Fedro, observed drug paraphernalia in plain view in the pair's vehicle, the post says. A further search revealed a lock box near Michell Cannon's driver's seat which officers say contained a "clear sandwich bag with a crystal-like substance inside." Officers say they also found weighing scales and other drug paraphernalia in the car.

"Man, that's methed up," Deputies Guzman and Fedro said, according to the tongue-in-cheek account, after the 17.6 ounces of crystal-like substance tested positive for methamphetamine.

The officers say they also found "several used syringes," including one with a yellowish liquid that field-tested positive for fentanyl.


"Since we don't 'meth around' with drug dealers here in Brevard County," the BCSO's post continued, "Michell Cannon was transported to 'Ivey's Iron Bar Lodge.'"

"Ivey's Iron Bar Lodge," is a humorous reference to jail, with "Ivey" referring to Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey.

Michell Cannon was charged with two felonies, controlled substance trafficking and controlled substance possession, as well as two misdemeanors, driving with a suspended license, and drug paraphernalia possession, according to BCSO booking documents. She was held on a $34,000 bond. A court date for Michell Cannon's trafficking charge is set for July 27.

Jazmine Lee Cannon, Michell Cannon's daughter, was allegedly found to have "less than a gram of methamphetamine hidden in her bra and a used syringe in her pants." Jazmine Cannon was charged with felony methamphetamine possession and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia possession. Her bond was set at $2,500.

BCSO wrapped up their account of the Cannons' arrests by joking about the pair qualifying for the "family plan" at the jail, which gets them a "framed family booking photo."

Below are the Cannons' booking photos, courtesy of the BCSO.

"If you don't think we will lock your butt up for being a drug dealer in Brevard County ... just 'meth up and find out!!" Sheriff Wayne Ivey wrote.

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Alleged kidnapper caught hiding in laundry room under pile of clothes, garbage — and sheriff says bite from K-9 'Gator' had suspect 'cryin' like a little baby'



An alleged kidnapper was caught hiding in a Florida laundry room under a pile of clothes and garbage recently, and Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said a bite from a K-9 named "Gator" left the suspect "cryin' like a little baby."

What are the details?

Ivey let his wit fly freely in a video posted on his office's Facebook page describing the arrest of 31-year-old David Hallaman, who was wanted out of Massachusetts on charges of false imprisonment, kidnapping, criminal mischief, battery, and felony battery by strangulation.

Image source: Brevard County (Florida) Sheriff's Office

"This is Brevard County, and we don’t play," Ivey said on the clip. "We will send a dog in to take a bite out of crime."

Ivey said K-9 Gator sniffed out Hallaman — who stands 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds, according to jail records — and showed him "what happens when you play hide and seek" with the law.

"Gator don’t play that and decided that one of Hallaman’s triceps would probably taste a little bit like chicken," Ivey said as an image of the suspect's arm — badly wounded with bloody teeth marks — appeared on the screen.

Image source: Brevard County (Florida) Sheriff's Office

With that, Ivey said Hallaman — "Mr. Tough Guy" — began "cryin' like a little baby," gave himself up, and was soon taken to an emergency room for a spell.

Hallaman was booked Oct. 4 into Brevard County Jail. Ivey said he's stuck behind bars without bond as he awaits extradition to Massachusetts — and Hallaman was still there Thursday afternoon, jail records showed.

The capture took place in the laundry room of a residence in Mims during a domestic violence call, a sheriff's office media relations official told TheBlaze Thursday. Mims is about 45 minutes east of Orlando.

How did folks react?

As you might imagine, folks reacting to the takedown on Facebook were happy with the way things turned out. Here are just a few of them:

  • "Way to go, Gator!" one commenter exclaimed.
  • "I hope that bite didn’t turn officer puppy against chicken," another commenter crowed.
  • "Love it!" another commenter wrote. "Give the dog a treat!"

'If you do not meet violence with violence, then you will be violently killed': Florida sheriff announces bold plan to make schools 'hard targets' for shooters



A Florida sheriff has reassured parents that children will be kept safe in the upcoming school year, announcing that deputies in Brevard County will be equipped with rifles and tactical gear to make schools "hard targets" for would-be shooters.

In a Facebook video posted Monday, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey detailed school safety measures local police stations have taken after the deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

"Folks, let me be very clear. You are not coming in to my schools and killing our children. I firmly believe that if you do not meet violence with violence, you will be violently killed," Ivey said. "My goal is to avoid ever having to face a threat on one of our campuses by being better prepared, better armed, and better trained than anyone else, and especially someone thinking about harming our children or our teachers."

Ivey announced that school resource deputies with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office will be given new uniforms with a "tactical appearance that clearly signifies we mean business when it comes to protecting our children."

Officers will also be permitted to carry rifles on campus, changing a policy that Ivey said previously required his deputies to keep their long guns locked in a gun safe within their parked patrol cars.

"This new style uniform and tactical preparedness gives our team members the advantage and ability to instantly address the threat with the level of force necessary to eliminate the shooter and save the lives of innocent children and teachers," he explained.

"While there will be those that perhaps don't understand this new tactical approach to keeping our kids safe, it is my prayer that this new level of preparedness and immediate ability to address the threat will prevent an active shooter from ever walking onto one of our campuses and trying to harm a child," Ivey said.

A North Carolina school district recently adopted similar school safety measures. Madison County Schools, near Asheville, North Carolina, announced Friday that AR-15 rifles would be kept on campus locked in safes for school resource officers to access if there's ever a shooting event.

“Having a deputy just armed with a handgun isn't enough to stop these animals,” Sheriff Buddy Harwood said, according to WLOS-TV. “That's why I've decided to arm all of my school resource officers with AR-15 rifles.”

Though the local superintendent and county board support the sheriff's new policy, it is opposed by UNC Chapel Hill education professor Dr. Dorothy Espelage. She said she's conducted decades of research on school safety and determined that "hardening" schools could lead to accidents and increased juvenile arrests.

"What's going to happen is we're going to have accidents with these guns," Espelage told WLOS. "Just the presence of an SRO increases violence in the schools. There's more arrests of kids. Why is it that they have to have these AR-15s? It doesn't make any sense.”

Harwood said the AR-15s would be locked in an undisclosed location within safes paid for by the county.