Two Florida men have been arrested and charged with plotting to groom and rape a three-year-old girl, a report says.
Police arrested Lafe Best, 37, and Benjamin Worster, 39, after an investigation found the pair planned the alleged plot via texts, according to Tribune Media Wire.
The suspect’s plan was first discovered by the potential victim’s mother when she saw the text messages on Worster’s phone after she found him suffering an apparent drug overdose in her apartment. The woman told police that after she called emergency services for the overdose, she saw Worster’s phone. When she began looking through it, she stumbled across the text messages detailing plans to rape her daughter. The woman also told police the girl said Worster had touched her inappropriately at least once.
After an investigation, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office found a series of texts between Worster and his sexual partner, Best, detailing an alleged step-by-step plan to get the child used to seeing them naked, to be comfortable watching pornographic movies, and to being around the two men without others present. The pair also reportedly were searching for a substance that could “knock out” the girl without leaving a trace or harming her.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office published a few entries detailing the plan to the department’s Facebook page.
WARNING: The details are explicit and may be upsetting to some people:
Detectives executed a search warrant at Best’s home on February 5. Along with the plot with Worster, police reported finding child porn in Best’s possession. He was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail and is currently being held without bond.
Worster was arrested last month and was charged with lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious conduct, and 21 counts of possession of child pornography.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.