A Gainesville man was arrested Tuesday after admitting to stalking a 16-year-old for months, Gainesville Police said.
Charles Hart
Charles Hart, 23, started following the girl at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year, according to a police report. He waited almost every day for her to get off the bus and would greet her and look her up and down, she told police.
The student would often try avoiding Hart by ducking into the Library Partnership Branch, at 1130 NE 16th Ave., and at a laundromat, but Hart was hardly deterred. After a school crossing guard noticed and reported the activity, police told him to stop, according to the report.
The student noticed Hart following her again Tuesday and yelled at him to stop three times, according to the report. When she tried to jog away, he followed her.
Hart told police he was walking behind her, not following her. He called it a joke, according to the report.
He admitted to following her for months and knowing her routine, according to the report. He told police that the highlight of his day was going to the library.
The student told police she was scared he would harm her, according to the report.
Police arrested Hart on a charge of aggravated stalking. Authorities took him to the Alachua County Jail where he remains, as of press time, in lieu of a $20,000 bond.
mkornfield@alligator.org
@merylkornfield
