PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – Disclaimer: Some may find the details included in this story to be graphic in nature. Discretion is advised.
A man accused of assaulting and committing sex acts on a teenage girl for more than a year was arrested Wednesday on multiple charges, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
William Shannon Lee Merrill, 29, of Interlachen, is charged with felony counts of lewd and lascivious behavior on a juvenile between the ages of 12 and 16, cruelty toward a child, aggravated assault with a weapon, battery, and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. He also faces misdemeanor charges of tattooing a minor without the consent of a guardian.
Detectives said they responded to the initial case in November 2021 and talked with a teenager who described a situation with Merrill that began in June 2020, became increasingly violent and abusive, and involved sexual assault, as well as sex trafficking over social media.
The arrest warrant lists details of torture.
“This case is something that has all of the classic qualifiers of grooming, of building a rapport with this juvenile,” said Cpt. Chris Stallings, with the Sheriff’s Office.
Detectives told News4JAX that Merrill met the teen at a social gathering where he talked to her about a babysitting job and then eventually reached out to her on social media.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, she said that he would continue to contact her on social media, including Facebook Messenger and Snapchat. He also sold nude photos and explicit videos with the teen online, detectives said.
The victim told detectives that he began committing sex acts on her in 2020. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the teen said Merrill made her stay with him and would get upset when she tried to go home, to school or medical appointments. The girl said she would tell her parents that she was staying with someone else.
“Family didn’t know she was sneaking out for the longest time because she was coming back, but as this relationship progressed, she started spending more and more time away,” Stallings said.
The teen also disclosed that Merrill tattooed his initials and other symbols on her body and burned her skin twice, leaving scars, the Sheriff’s Office said.
In addition, according to the Sheriff’s Office, she told detectives that Merrill committed sex acts on another teenage girl and would force her to hide in the closet while the other girl was in his home.
“One of the deputies made contact with him at another location that he wasn’t living at and learned the juvenile had been staying there for about four days and he had known that she was there,” Stallings said.
The teen told detectives that she finally ended things after she thought he might kill her, according to the arrest warrant. In September 2021, the teen said, she left Merril after he choked her multiple times “almost to the point of unconsciousness” and pointed a gun at her, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
“He had a firearm that he threatened to kill himself with, she was able to get the gun from him at some point, and then he turned the gun on her,” Stallings said.
And at one point, according to the warrant, Merrill put a dog collar on the girl and dragged her around the house.
“What this child endured is reprehensible,” said Putnam County Sheriff H.D. “Gator” DeLoach. “If she had not gotten away when she did, the outcome could have been much different. I also can’t stress enough how important it is for parents and guardians to monitor your child’s social media and know who is contacting them.”
The State Attorney’s Office pursued the arrest warrant in June, and Merrill was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon on the warrant, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Merrill was booked just before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday into the Putnam County Jail, where he remained as of Thursday on $150,000 bond, online jail records show.
According to detectives, it’s unclear if there could be more victims.
“We ask anybody if they have information, that may know whereabouts of his interacitons over the past year or two, to please reach out to us,” Stallings said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, he has a prior arrest over the interference in the custody of a minor in a separate case involving a different child, and his other arrests were on property-related offense charges.
Sheriff’s Office warns parents to monitor children’s online activity
According to the Sheriff’s Office, online predators are a growing problem, and detectives deal with cases daily.
The Sheriff’s Office encourages parents to:
- Look for warning signs like changes in a child’s behavior
- Use parental control features offered on social media accounts
- Know where their child is and what they’re doing online
“We just ask everyone to be focused on what your children are doing. We can’t preach it enough,” Stallings said. “This does happen. It happens every day.”
Deputies encourage parents to not only monitor their children’s social media pages but to be on the same social media sites they’re on to understand how they operate.