NEWS RELEASE

A Vero Beach man, Jay Fredrick Nagel (25), was arrested for 3 counts of lewd and lascivious battery on two teenage girls.

Earlier this month, a 14 year old female was questioned by her youth group advisor after the advisor heard other girls in the group talking about the victim conversing and meeting with an adult male she met on Facebook. The youth group leader contacted the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office and an investigation was launched.

Detective Jeremy Shepherd determined Nagel was using a Facebook persona in the name of Jonathan Langley and many of the friends listed on the account appeared to be high school or middle school aged girls. The investigation revealed Nagel engaged in sexual activity with the victim at least twice when she was 13 and at least once after she turned 14.

A search warrant was obtained for Nagel’s cell phone and another victim, a 15 year old female, was identified after sexually explicit messages between the two were found. An interview with this victim revealed Nagel had committed lewd and lascivious battery on her in July of this year. This relationship is believed to have started on Facebook as well.

Nagel was arrested and charged with three counts each of lewd and lascivious battery. Each count is a 2nd degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison for each charge. He is being held in the Indian River County Jail on $150,000 bond.

The arrest and warrant affidavits will be available on our Website as soon as the statutory redactions are finalized. The booking photo is available on our Website.

Anyone with information about other potential victims is asked to contact Detective Jeremy Shepherd at 772-978-6120. Those wishing to remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward up to $1,000, can provide information through Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-8477 or http://www.tcwatch.org. Please refer to Indian River County Sheriff’s Office case number 2014-125168.