Timothy Newman, photo courtesy of the Broward County Sheriff's Office
An affidavit in support of a criminal complaint was released Thursday and provides new details into what happened while a convicted sex offender in North Carolina was with a 12-year-old girl at the center of a multi-state Amber Alert.
Throughout the Amber Alert, we reported the girl's name and used her photograph. Because she is now considered to be an alleged victim of sexual assault, we are no longer identifying her or using her picture.
FBI agents and Broward Sheriff's Office deputies located the 12-year-old girl and the registered sex offender she was with.
They were last seen Sunday night in North Carolina.
After the suspect, Timothy Newman, 38, used her father's stolen debit card at a gas station in Coral Gables, Florida on Wednesday, police in South Florida were put on the alert to be on the lookout for the two of them.
About 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, their car was spotted on I-95 and officers stopped them in the parking lot of a restaurant in the Miami area. Newman was arrested and the girl was taken to the hospital to be checked out.
The girl was interviewed by the FBI and told them she had known Timothy Howard Newman, 38, since June. She said they began a sexual relationship in July, and that this month, they decided to run away together and planned their escape through text messages and other forms of communication. She said she knew how old Newman was and that he was a sex offender.
Newman picked her up and they drove to South Carolina and then on to Florida, she said.
She told the FBI they threw away their cell phones in South Carolina but that she kept the memory card from her phone.
She said they engaged in sexual activity several times during the trip, including in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.
Newman told her he was in trouble and that he would go back to prison for being with her, according to the affidavit. She said they came up with nicknames to conceal their identities. Her nickname was "Ocean" and his was "Monkey."
In Newman's statement to officials, according to the affidavit, he admitted to having a relationship with her two months ago, but said he'd known her since she was five.
Newman said the girl's father discovered two weeks ago that he was sending text messages to the girl. That violated his probation, so he was arrested. When he got out, he said he resumed the relationship. Newman said they planned to get married after they ran away together.
Thursday, the girl's father said this was a case of a man taking advantage of a little girl's tough situation. "Her deceased mother's birthday is coming up next month. I think he used a lot of that against her, to persuade her. I think he promised her the world. You don't ever have to go to school again. We're going to make it to the Bahamas. It's going to be great. From my personal feelings, from my aspect, that's what I feel he was feeding her."
Newman admitted to having sexual intercourse with the girl several times during the trip.
North Carolina law enforcement have located several sexually explicit text messages between the two. The affidavit says the girl has acknowledged that the texts were between them.
According to the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry, Newman was convicted in 2004 of two counts of Sexual Offense with Certain Victims. He served two years and three months and three years of probation. According to North Carolina law, the Sexual Offense with Certain Victims statute includes intercourse and other sex acts with a child for whom you have some responsibility, including one living in your home or who you teach or coach.
