"This Pervert thought he was traveling to Flagler County to take away the innocence of a child..." Sheriff Rick Staly said

PALM COAST, Florida — A Daytona Beach man was arrested Monday morning after driving to Flagler County to meet a 16-year-old girl for sex, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.Alfred Smith, a 25-year-old from Daytona Beach, believed he was meeting a minor he had been messaging on a social media app. Instead, he was met by deputies at a gas station in Palm Coast. Smith admitted to deputies that he had been communicating with someone he thought was a teenage girl and had sent sexually explicit photos. He also acknowledged that he knew it was wrong to drive to Palm Coast but did so because he claimed he had not been intimate for over five years.The investigation began after private online sleuths reported Smith's activities to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. Smith was on sex offender probation for Lewd or Lascivious Molestation of a Victim Under 12 Years Old, Offender Under 18 Years Old. He was arrested for Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communications Device and Traveling to Meet/Lure a Child After Using a Computer. Deputies found an unused condom in his pockets during the search.Smith was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where he is being held without bond. Additional charges are pending."This pervert thought he was traveling to Flagler County to take away the innocence of a child but instead he meets Flagler County Sheriff's Office deputies who were waiting for him," said Sheriff Rick Staly. "Obviously, he has not learned anything from his prior offense and being on sex offender probation. Now it's time for him to learn a lesson in prison before he can hurt a child."