7 Years for Douglas Dad in Sex Sting

Douglasville resident Gregory Paul Lawrence was sentenced this week to seven years in prison for traveling to Florida in June to pick up a 13-year-old girl he could bring back to Douglas County for sex.

Instead of a young girl, Lawrence found Lake County Sheriff’s Office detectives waiting for him when he drove to Clermont, FL, on June 18, The Daily Commercial reported.

The 33-year-old father of two was caught in a cybersting led by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to catch sexual predators. The chatroom messages, nude photos and sex-act instructions were going to detectives pretending to be an underage girl.

Lawrence was one of 32 men arrested in the sting. Under the plea deal he accepted, he received the longest sentence of any of the 10 men convicted so far, The Daily Commercial said.

Lawrence brought his children with him on his sex road trip in June because he couldn’t get a baby sitter, The Daily Commercial said.

Lake County jail records show that Lawrence was charged with three felonies involving obscene communication and lewd and lascivious behavior in June, but under the plea deal he was convicted of two lesser but related felonies. For example, the lewd and lascivious charge changed from battery against a 12- to 16-year-old to conduct by an adult.

The Massachusetts native was out on $55,000 bond from June 22 until his sentencing Monday.