Detectives shackled a man up Tuesday after they say he shacked up with a 14-year-old boy.
Robert Gittle, 25, of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, was taken into custody after allegedly having sex with the teen inside a restroom at the Northwest Regional Library in Coral Springs.
Gittle and a the 14-year-old victim connected through social networking app Grindr and eventually started communicating via text messages, a police report said. Gittle allegedly told the teen he was 18.
The two met on May 15 in a bathroom at the library where they performed sex acts on each other, the arrest report said. Surveillance video from the library corroborates that meeting.
In July, an undercover detective, posing as the boy, reached out to Gittle to arrange another meeting. Instead of meeting the boy at the library, this time, Gittle was greeted by cops.
The 25-year-old suspect appeared before a bond court judge Wednesday and was ordered held on $1 million bond.
He is charged with three counts of lewd or lascivious battery on a minor older than 12 but younger than 16 and two counts of traveling to meet a minor for unlawful sex, records show.
He is currently indicted out of the state of New Jersey on child pornography charges. Detectives say Gittle may have more victims.
Anyone with information is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.