A retired Florida police officer is behind bars after allegedly attempting to meet an 11-year-old girl for sex, according to authorities.
Gary Mygdal, 73, was taken into custody Thursday outside a Pinellas Park apartment complex after investigators said he arranged an encounter with who he believed was a child. Instead, he was met by law enforcement.
Police said Mygdal had engaged in sexually explicit online conversations and admitted after his arrest that he traveled there for “intimate sexual contact” with the girl, according to an arrest affidavit cited by the Tampa Bay Times.
Mygdal previously served a decade with the Pinellas Park Police Department, from 1974 to 1984, and was also sitting on two city boards at the time of his arrest, FOX13 Tampa reported. He has since been suspended from those positions and could be permanently removed at upcoming meetings.
Police Chief Adam Geissenberger condemned the crime, stressing the department’s zero-tolerance stance. “No one is above the law, and we will hold offenders accountable regardless of their past positions or affiliations,” he said.
Mygdal faces a felony charge of traveling to meet a minor, a second-degree offense in Florida. He is being held at Pinellas County Jail on a $15,000 bond, according to online records.
