Ottawa truck driver Matthew Marchand was arrested and charged by the St. Johns County, Florida Sheriff’s Department with one count of using a computer “to seduce, attract or entice a child” and two counts of transmitting harmful material to minors. Photo by the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department. Johns

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An Ottawa trucker who gained Internet fame documenting his travels during the pandemic is in a Florida jail on child abduction charges after he was caught sending alleged sex messages to an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.

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Matthew Marchand, 36, was charged July 28 with one count of using a computer “to seduce, attract or entice a child” and two counts of transmission of harmful material to minors by the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department. Johns in St. Augustine, Florida. . He is being held on $75,000 bond. Sign up to receive daily news headlines from the Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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Marchand is a married father of four who chronicles his long-haul trucking journeys on social media with his My World Through a Windshield accounts. He was a common presence on news channels during the first months of the pandemic, talking about his trucking experiences when borders, restaurants and even toilets were closed due to COVID-19. In January, he was praised for helping stranded motorists in Virginia on US I-95 after a severe winter storm swept through the region. For this he was recognized as a Highway Hero by his company and a Highway Angel by Great West Casualty insurance company.

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He is active on Tiktok, Instagram, Snapchat and has tweeted more than 18,000 times from his @myworldtaw account to his more than 8,000 followers. Tweets are now protected. Marchand is accused of exchanging sexually explicit messages and images with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but was actually a detective in the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit. Johns County. The officer, who asked not to be named in this story, was named the sheriff’s department’s 2021 officer of the year for her work identifying sexual predators online. He did not say which platform was used for the communication, saying the case was still an active investigation. A graphic account of these communications was filed in court records. In it, Marchand allegedly asks the undercover officer how old he is. The officer replies: “13.”

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“Do you want to see a boy’s penis?” Marchand then asks, according to the document. “If you want,” the officer replies. Marchand then allegedly sends a picture of a penis and then asks if the girl has pubic hair before sending another picture of a woman’s genitalia. The conversation continues with Marchand asking if he could rub and kiss her breasts and if she is sexually motivated before sending her a link to a pornographic video. The St. Johns Sheriff’s Department issued an arrest warrant on July 14, and Marchand was arrested the next day in Colleton County, South Carolina. He was extradited to Florida and charged on July 28. He claimed indigent status and was assigned a public defender. The charges he was arrested on are third-degree felonies in Florida and carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and $10,000 in fines, but formal charges have not been filed in court by the state’s attorney. No court date has been set. During the pandemic, Marchand told reporters he became a long-haul trucker around 2015 after losing his job as a building superintendent. He said he does about 200,000 kilometers a year behind the wheel. His last tweet was on July 22. “I’m taking a break from social media to focus on my health and family! Thank you all for your support! Greetings! Keep trucking.”

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