PALM BAY, Fla. A 25-year-old West Palm Beach man is facing six felony charges after Palm Bay police say he posed as an 18-year-old high school senior on Snapchat, drove to a Palm Bay home in the middle of the night, snuck in and sexually assaulted a girl younger than 16.
Saul Dave Alexis, 25, was arrested on a Brevard County warrant on Sept. 21 and made his initial court appearance the same day, according to court records. He is charged with three counts of sexual battery on a victim between 12 and 18 by an offender 18 or older, two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim between 12 and 16, and one count of lewd or lascivious exhibition to a child under 16.
Contact began hours before the assault, affidavit says
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed Sept. 14 by Palm Bay Police Department Special Victims Unit Detective Amanda Hollcroft, the girl told investigators that an unknown male added her on Snapchat in the early morning hours of Sept. 6. She initially believed he was someone she knew, accepted the request, and soon realized he was a stranger.
The affidavit states the male, who used the display name “Allen,” told the girl he was 18, lived in Palm Bay and was a high school senior. Snapchat messages reviewed by the detective show him asking the girl how old she was and telling her he wanted to make sure she “wasn’t super older” than him. He then pressed her about whether they would get caught if he came over and discussed sneaking in so her family would not hear.
The two stayed on a Snapchat video call with cameras off for nearly two hours while he traveled to her home, according to the affidavit. The girl told investigators she believed they were going to watch a horror movie and that there had been no discussion of sexual activity.
Once inside, the affidavit states, the man began touching her, and she repeatedly told him to stop. Investigators say he used his body weight to hold her down and sexually battered her multiple times while she told him he was hurting her and that she did not want what was happening. The girl told police he said what he was doing was “normal.” He then left through the front door and told her he planned to return, according to the affidavit.
The girl told investigators it was the first time she had been sexually active and that she was injured as a result.
Snapchat, Google records led to suspect
There were no witnesses or camera recordings of the incident, and a neighborhood canvass turned up no video of the suspect or his vehicle, which police say he parked several houses away.
Because the man’s identity was unknown and he had told the girl he would come back, detectives submitted emergency disclosure requests to Snapchat and Google, the affidavit states. Snapchat’s records tied the account to a Gmail address, and Google’s records returned the name Saul Alexis along with a phone number. Recent logins on the email account came from IP addresses that appeared to resolve to the Orlando area and the University of Central Florida, according to the affidavit.
A state driver license database check showed Alexis as a 25-year-old man with a West Palm Beach address. On Sept. 7, the girl viewed a photo lineup at the Palm Bay Police Department and identified Alexis, telling detectives she was “100% sure” he was the man who entered her home and assaulted her.
Investigators also collected a sexual assault kit from the Children’s Advocacy Center, a blanket, DNA swabs and a piece of toilet paper he apparently used to clean himself afterwards was recovered from a garbage bin at the end of the home’s driveway. All of it was submitted for DNA analysis, the affidavit states.
Detective posed as victim
On Sept. 10, with the consent of the girl and her family, Hollcroft took over a secondary Snapchat account belonging to the girl and messaged the suspect’s account.
According to the affidavit, the man accepted the request and, believing he was speaking with the girl, discussed the encounter in explicit terms. When the detective, posing as the girl, wrote that she had told him to stop and he did not, he replied that “it felt good,” the affidavit states. When asked whether he continued even though she said it hurt because he believed it would help, he answered “yes.”
The man then made plans to meet the girl again that evening at a park near her home for sex, according to police. He stopped responding before taking any significant step toward the meeting and later blocked the account.
The warrant was issued September 14 and September 15 he was arrested in Orange County.
An arrest affidavit contains allegations only. Alexis is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
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