Fiancee or Sex Offender? – Police: 22-year-old caught with same Flagler teen twice in a month

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Tavarez Jaq’ay Calloway

Tavarez Jaq’ay Calloway, now living in Plant City, was arrested Monday and charged with burglary, trespassing and lewd and lascivious exhibition after the manager of the Palm Pointe Apartments, 4600 E. Moody Blvd., called about “two subjects” in a vacant apartment.

The girl, who is 15, was “in the master bedroom unclothed, and putting on her underwear,” according to the report. Calloway was also in the master bedroom “putting on his pants and sitting in a recliner.”

The girl told the maintenance worker who happened upon them that she was there to “help him,” the report states.

The girl’s mother came to the scene and told police that Calloway had previously been “charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on her daughter,” according to the report.

When police told her about the current situation, she said she had “no idea,” and that she thought her daughter was at a friend’s house.

The girl’s parents declined assistance from a Flagler County Victim’s Advocate because of a “privacy” issue with the previous case.

“(The mother) advised that she didn’t want to have a sexual assault kit done on her daughter, and that her daughter didn’t want it done either,” the report states.

Calloway declined to speak to police. The Children’s Protective Team was notified, but because of “the lack of cooperation” by the girl and her family, no interview was arranged.

“Let it be noted that (the teen) was very uncooperative with the investigation, and didn’t want to get Mr. Calloway in trouble,” according to the report.

When Calloway was arrested Sept. 23 on charges of lewd and lascivious battery, he told investigators that he met the girl “while he was in town working with a traveling fair.” He had been staying on Zanzibar Balsan Court, but was trespassed from the property, previous reports stated.

The girl “convinced her parents to allow Tavarez to stay at their home until he could find work and get back on his feet,” according to the report. “She stated that they discontinued their relationship when he moved into the home out of respect for her father, who cautioned both of them strongly against ‘dating’ if Tavarez were going to stay in the home.”

The teen said at the time of Calloway’s previous arrest that “both of” the incidents took place “months ago.”

There is too much age difference for Calloway to qualify for Florida’s “Romeo and Juliet” law that was created in 2007 to address concerns about high school-age youth being labeled as sex offenders or predators for having a consensual sexual relationship, according to a 2011 Florida Senate “issue brief.”

Under the provision, the victim must be at least 14 years old and the offender no more than four years older. The victim must have consented.

While the law does not make the sex legal, it allows the offender to make a petition for removal of the requirement to register as a sex offender.

Calloway was booked into the Flagler County Detention Facility where he remains on $41,000 bail.

Sgt. Kurt Schoeps, supervisor of the Volusia County sex crimes and “Internet Crimes Against Children” units, said the “Romeo and Juliet” law “is not a consideration when we are investigating.”

“It is illegal for a 15- to 17-year-old (to have sex),” Schoeps said during a previous interview unrelated to these arrests.

“A 15-year-old cannot consent to sex. The 18-year-old can file a motion so they don’t have to register as a sex offender. The (offender) will still be tried and (could be) convicted but would not have to register.”