OCALA, Fla. — U.S. marshals tracked down an Orange County man in Ocala who was wanted on charges of having sex with a 13-year-old autistic girl, authorities said.
But Channel 9 found out that he’s back on the streets.
Matthew Steger was arrested in October on a charge of lewd and lascivious battery of a victim between the ages of 12 and 16. Steger was arrested on October 27 in Citrus County by U.S. Marshals. He was transferred to the Orange County Jail on Nov. 22.
Steger posted a bail amount of $5,000 on Nov. 23.
Authorities said Steger was in downtown Orlando with friends when he approached the girl outside a building where her grandparents live.
Steger, 22, told the girl he was a teenager and convinced her to sneak out in the middle of the night, investigators said.
Police said the girl told them the pair had sex, but that she tried to push Steger off of her because she didn't know what he was trying to do.
"Most people want them locked up until their trial is over with and done," WFTV legal analyst Belvin Perry said.
Perry said judges’ hands are tied in cases like Steger’s, and that prosecutors have a high burden of proof to deny bail.
Steger was accused in the past of sexually abusing a child, but never convicted.
“These people are viewed, rightfully so, as sexual predators," Perry said.
Channel 9 learned that Orlando police pulled Steger over six months ago for allegedly running two red lights, and according to a police report, Steger admitted to having a gun in the car.
Police said that Steger explained he had the gun because he was going to meet a girl he had chatted with online.
Prosecutors dropped the case just a few months after another juvenile had gone to Altamonte Springs police with sexual-abuse allegations against Steger, authorities said.
The child claimed Steger had sexually abused her at his apartment, police said.
But that case never saw a courtroom after the child’s family decided not to pursue a case against Steger.
There was no mention of the past accusations against Steger during his bond hearing Tuesday.
Channel 9 was told that the fact that U.S. marshals had to track him across the state is a hard sell as a reason to lock him up until his trial.
Cox Media Group
