Missing teen found hidden in sex offender’s closet, Polk sheriff says

POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A runaway teen girl was discovered in the bedroom closet of a sex offender in Polk County this week, according to the sheriff’s office.

In a release, Sheriff Grady Judd said his agency was contacted by Orange County detectives on Monday about the 17-year-old girl, who was believed to be with a man in Dundee.

Afterward, deputies responded to the Dundee home of 30-year-old Alexis Diaz-Toledo to search for the missing teen.

Alexis Diaz-Toledo, 30 (Polk County Sheriff’s Office)

“Diaz-Toledo denied any knowledge of the girl’s whereabouts and said that he had not seen her for a couple of days,” the release reads. “He initially refused to let detectives search his home.”

However, detectives at the scene said they determined that Diaz-Toledo had violated the terms of his sex offender registration by not reporting two of the vehicles kept at the home.

As a result, detectives searched his home, ultimately finding the girl hiding in Diaz-Toledo’s bedroom closet, Judd wrote.

[BELOW: Disturbing discoveries made at Sanford ‘House of Horrors’]

She was soon returned home, though Diaz-Toledo was arrested and now faces the following charges:

Failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements (2 counts)

Interfering with the custody of a minor

Sheltering a minor without notifying her parent

False information to law enforcement officers during a missing person investigation

According to Judd, Diaz-Toledo has been a registered sex offender ever since he was convicted in 2014 for lewd, lascivious battery on a victim between 12-15 years old.