Laurel Hill Man Arrested on Sex Charges
A Laurel Hill man, wanted for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old child, was arrested by authorities this weekend in an Alabama park.
Joseph Lee Riddle, 25, originally from Laurel Hill, was apprehended yesterday by the U.S. Marshals North Florida Violent Fugitive Task Force and its members from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office just across the Florida state line at Lake Jackson Park in Florala, Ala.
Riddle is wanted on warrants from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office for Sexual Battery on a Child under 12 and Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of a Child 12 Years or Younger.
The Sheriff’s Office received a Crime Stopper’s Tip that he would be there some time in the late afternoon. Surveillance was set up by the task force and at 3:45 p.m. they saw Riddle walking towards the park from a store across the street. Riddle was taken into custody without incident.
Riddle is being held at the Covington County Jail by the Florala Police Department and is waiting extradition back to Okaloosa County where he will face the sex offense charges.