Your Florida Daily: Broward deputy charged with soliciting minor for sex, Supreme Court unblocks sports betting decision

In South Florida, a deputy is charged with soliciting a minor for sex, according to a news release from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputy Jemiah Thomas, 35, has worked for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office since 2017.

Thomas met the 17-year-old girl during a domestic violence call in Pompano Beach last month, investigators say.

“You’ve got a deputy out here who did nothing more than take advantage,” Sheriff Gregory Tony said during a news conference.

Thomas gave the girl his personal cell phone number and began texting her, Tony said.

“Throughout those texting and communicating, there had been strategic efforts to meet with the minor, sexual communications, pictures being sent while on duty exposing his penis and things of that nature,” Tony said.

When the girl’s father found out, he made a complaint to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Undercover detectives then took over the text conversation.

“And so our ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) group were part of the investigation and in this case pretending to be a minor and having these communications back and forth,” Tony said.

During a conversation over the weekend, Thomas suggested renting a hotel room for them to meet, Tony said.

He says Thomas showed up to the hotel, but the undercover detective canceled the meeting. Deputies placed him under arrest the next day.

Deputy Thomas is currently suspended without pay from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

The U.S. Supreme Court is potentially clearing the way for a major expansion of sports betting in Florida.

Justices rejected a challenge to a multi-billion dollar deal between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe.

The agreement will allow bettors to place wagers anywhere in the state online or through an app with those bets going through servers located on tribal land.

There’s still legal challenges at the state level, so it’s not clear when an expansion of betting could take effect.

A major cruise line is making history on Florida’s east coast.

Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas arrived at Port Canaveral on Wednesday.

With a capacity of 6,800 passengers, it is now the largest ship in the world to offer short cruises twice a week.

Officials say after a record-setting year for cruises there’s greater demand for shorter voyages at sea.

“We did right at 6.8 million cruise guests this past year so it’s been a very, very busy year for us. It’s a record year on the cruise guest so we’re quite pleased,” said CEO of Port Canaveral John Murray.

Allure of the Seas departed Wednesday and will soon sail out of Port Canaveral Mondays and Fridays.

Random Florida Fact

Only two Disney parks have ever permanently closed: Discovery Island and River Country.

River Country was a hillbilly-themed water park that opened in 1976.

It closed in 2001 after a dip in business after 9/11 and complications from a Florida law banning unchlorinated water bodies from being used for water parks.

It sat abandoned for almost 20 years until it was cleared to make way for a new Disney hotel.

In 2022, Disney announced they were scrapping the plans to make way for a new tower at Polynesian Village Resort.