JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 27-year-old man who was named Thursday in an Amber Alert involving a Columbia County teenager was booked into the Duval County jail on Friday morning on child sex charges.
Jail records show that Jesse Hammersla was booked around 6 a.m. Friday on four counts of sexual battery on a minor older than 12 but younger than 18. He was also booked on one count of leaving the scene of an accident and one count of driving with a suspended license for offenses dating from July.
Hammersla was named in an Amber Alert that reported a 16-year-old Columbia County girl had been kidnapped Thursday and was possibly in the Jacksonville area.
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The two were believed to be traveling in a 2001 gold Toyota Sienna.
The alert was canceled about 90 minutes later when the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said the teen had been recovered and was safe.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Atlantic Beach Police Department were gathered at Panam Plaza near Mayport Road on Thursday night in connection with the Amber Alert.
According to Hammersla’s arrest report, a man who had been with Hammersla and the 16-year-old “for a few days” called the police on Thursday after kicking the pair out of his vehicle at the plaza.
The arrest report said the teen was recovered there, and Hammersla was taken into custody “without incident.”
The teen was “visibly upset and crying” and was taken to a local hospital to be checked out after she was found, according to the report.
The CCSO originally posted Wednesday afternoon that the 16-year-old was missing and believed to have run away with another teen girl.
According to court documents in Duval County, Hammersla has been arrested in the past for traffic violations but nothing involving children.
He also has a warrant out of St. Johns County for failure to appear on a traffic misdemeanor and a Columbia County warrant for interference with child custody.