Sexual predator in Clearwater charged with having sex with minor

CLEARWATER -- A registered sexual predator has been arrested on charges of having sex with a 17-year-old girl, Pinellas County sheriff's officials said today.

Ariquer Diaz Diaz (left), 32, who lived in Room 245 at the Continental Inn at 12810 U.S. 19 N, had consensual sex many times with the teen-ager in his room between March and June, officials said. Investigators also said they found a photo of the victim performing a sex act on Diaz on her cell phone.

Diaz was arrested Thursday and booked into the Pinellas County Jail on one count of sexual performance by a child and four counts of unlawful sexual activity with certain minors. He denied the allegations, officials said. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Diaz was deemed a sexual predator, which requires him to register with local authorities, in June 2003 after being convicted of having unlawful sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl, officials said. Deputies assigned to the sheriff's Sexual Predator Offender Tracking Unit verified his address in May 2007 and circulated fliers about him in the area. Since then, officials said, deputies made six unannounced visits on Diaz but never found him with a minor.

-- Times staff writer

[Pinellas County Sheriff's Office]