Registered sex offender arrested for multiple sexual battery counts
A St. Cloud registered sexual offender was arrested and charged with more than 100 counts of sexual battery after allegedly victimizing two young boys.
Osceola County Sheriff's detectives arrested Robert Grafton, 63, 351 Brown Chapel Road, on Sunday and charged him with 102 counts of sexual battery, 25 counts of lewd and lascivious battery and 30 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct.
Grafton is a registered sexual offender, Sheriffs Office reports stated.
The investigation began when deputies took a report from parents in St. Cloud who said they met Grafton several years ago when they lived in the same motel in Kissimmee and that he might have victimized their children. They were unaware he was a sex offender, Sheriffs spokesperson Twis Lizasuain said.
According to the report, Grafton would buy their children clothing, give them money and, most recently, bought them cell phones. The family was having financial problems and, at one point, lived with Grafton at his residence in St. Cloud. Recently, the parents said they began noticing their sons, ages 13 and 14, did not want to have contact with Grafton. A family friend told them Grafton might be a sex offender, so they verified the information then contacted law enforcement.
Detectives spoke with the boys who told them Grafton had been sexually battering them since August 2012 and as recently as two days ago. Grafton was brought in for questioning and cooperated with the investigation. Based on the victims' statements and Grafton's interview, Grafton was arrested and booked into the Osceola County Jail, where he his being held on no bond.
Grafton served 15 years in prison in Pennsylvania for a similar crime, Lizasuain said, and registered as a sexual offender in Osceola County in February 2011.
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Registered sex offender arrested for multiple sexual battery counts