Investigated for Stalking, Man Is Accused of Raping 15-Year-Old Palm Coast Girl in Her Home

James Russell Brink, a 25-year-old resident of Dale City, Virginia, is being held at the Flagler County jail on $100,000 bond on a charge of lewd and lascivious battery on a 15-year-old girl—that is, statutory rape—after traveling from Virginia to see the girl in Palm Coast’s W Section.

The incident was uncovered late Friday night or early Saturday morning when the girl’s mother went to check on her and found her bedroom door locked. The mother knocked on the door. It wasn’t opened for two minutes. But when the girl opened it, she was wearing only underwear “and was visibly shaken,” according to Brink’s arrest report.

The mother walked into the rook “and found the suspect sitting on the floor between the bed and the window,” fully clothed. She ordered him not to move and asked his name. He gave a false name, the report states, so the mother went through his back pack and found his ID, recognizing it “from an ongoing incident in New York where they previously lived. The suspect was being investigated by Yorktown detectives for stalking their daughter,” the victim of the alleged incident. (Yorktown is a distant suburb of New York City.)

Brink neither confirmed nor denied misconduct, refused to provide DNA, “was extremely apprehensive during questioning and avoided most of the questions,” his arrest report states. But he admitted to knowing the victim for about a year and having feelings for her. He said he’d driven from Virginia that day to meet with the victim, parking his car one street over from the victim’s house. Searching the vehicle after obtaining consent to do so, deputies found receipts showing that Brink had been in Florida since Oct. 3, including a receipt from a hotel in St. Augustine and another for a morning-after pill purchase.

The 15-year-old girl was taken to Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine to be examined and interviewed by the Child Protection Team. The substance of the interview was then relayed to a Flagler County Sheriff’s detective and the arresting deputy. According to the arrest report, the girl told the Child Protection Team that Brink had arrived at her house at 11 p.m. with a bag of McDonald’s food for himself, which he ate, sitting on her bed.

When he was done, he set what was left of the food on the floor then “grabbed the victim’s arms and held her down and forced her to lie down on the bed. [Brink] pinned the victim’s arms over her head and sat on her legs, controlling her by mounting her body.” He then held both her arms down with one of his hands and removed her clothes, telling her to “be quiet and don’t make a sound.” He then bit her left shoulder, leaving a bite mark that a detective described as “extremely visible,” and proceeded to rape the victim orally and vaginally.

The victim tried to push Brink off but she told CPT interviewers he was too heavy, the report states. Brink’s booking sheet lists him at 5’75’’ and 180 pounds. “He finished by ejaculating on the bed,” the report states, leaving DNA evidence that was later collected. He had not worn protection.

Statutory rape is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. According to Florida law, “Neither the victim’s lack of chastity nor victim’s consent is a defense to the crime charged.”

Kentucky Man Arrested on Lewd and Lascivious Charge for Attempting top Meet St. Johns County Teen

A 37-year old Kentucky man was arrested on charges of lewd and lascivious behavior on a minor and traveling to meet a minor after using a computer to lure a child over the weekend.

The suspect, identified as Grant A. Bertram, 37, Lexington, Ky., was arrested by members of the ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) Task Force with the Lexington Police Department in Kentucky and is pending extradition to Florida.

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Special Victim’s Unit Detectives began the investigation late last month when the parents of a 16-year old girl discovered an alleged relationship between their daughter and Bertram. The suspect allegedly exploited this child for two years after the two met through an on-line gaming website. Between June of 2013 and September of 2014 the suspect traveled to St. Johns County multiple times and allegedly had sex with the juvenile on several occasions.

The two also communicated with each other through a cell phone provided to the victim by the suspect. The victim became afraid of the suspect due to alleged increased controlling and sadistic behavior and disclosed the affair to her mother who in turned notified the Sheriff’s Office. The ICAC Task Force is continuing the investigation.