St. Petersburg man accused of lewd battery of 13-year-old girl, deputies say

ST. PETERSBURG — A 20-year-old man was arrested early Saturday on two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child under the age of 16 after he was found with a 13-year-old girl in his car, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Just after 1:45 a.m., deputies got a call about a suspicious vehicle off 45th Avenue N, west of 49th Street N. Deputies said they found 20-year-old Sanchesz Deon Maultsby Jr. in the car with the girl.

Maultsby told deputies he had just committed a lewd act with the child, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He said he had also committed a lewd act with the girl in August, the agency said.

He said he thought the girl was about 15 or 16 years old, deputies say, and he had told her that he was 18 or 19.

The girl, who was not named by deputies because of the nature of the allegations, said when she met Maultsby five weeks ago he told her he was 16. She told him she was 13, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives determined that Maultsby knew the girl was under the age of 15 or 16. The St. Petersburg man was booked into the Pinellas County jail, where he was being held Saturday in lieu of $40,000 bail.