A Lakeland man who had a PCSO warrant for his arrest was taken into custody in Volusia County on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 for two counts of possession of child pornography (F3). 

The investigation began when PCSO detectives received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children (NCMEC) about 71-year-old Donald Eugene McClendon, Jr. who was online pretending to be a female named “Teresa” and engaged in explicit sexual conversations with an unknown male minor. 

During the investigation, detectives located flash drives belonging to McClendon which contained two images of children as young as 5-years-old being sexually battered. McClendon was not at the residence, but was staying with a relative in New Smyrna Beach. 

Working with the New Smyrna Beach Police Department, PCSO detectives located McClendon and took him into custody. 

McClendon told detectives that he was pretending to be a 16 or 17-year-old female online and used a photo of a minor girl as his profile picture. McClendon also admitted the flash drives that contained the child pornography images belonged to him. All of his devices were seized and will be examined – if any additional files containing child pornography are found, he will be charged accordingly.

“I am grateful for the hard work of my detectives and organizations like NCMEC who vow to protect our children from sexual exploitation and abuse. This investigation is still ongoing – more charges related to the felony possession and distribution of images and videos of children being sexually battered are possible after we do a complete forensic analysis on his devices.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff



McClendon is currently in the Volusia County Jail being held with no bond on the Polk County warrant. He will be transferred to the Polk County Jail. His previous criminal history includes a charge of Aggravated Battery and Domestic Violence Battery. The attached PCSO jail mugshot is from his May 5, 2022 arrest.

Lakeland, Florida- The Lakeland Police Department has arrested a Polk County Sheriff’s Office Deputy. The arrest came from allegations and charges being filed for Knowingly Abuse Child Without Bodily Injury.

On May 18th LPD arrested deputy Austin Moates. The following is an excerpt from the Lakeland Police affidavit (It should be noted that this is an unedited, but redacted, report of facts by the Lakeland Police Department. These facts are up for question and everyone is entitled to question the validity of facts by law enforcement in a court of law. The Daily Ridge does not rewrite these facts as some meanings or interpretations could be in error and change context. We hope readers appreciate being able to read the information and come to their own understanding and conclusions) :

The following is a summary of the interview, refer to the audio/video recording for further details from the victim:

“REDACTED stated that she got in trouble with REDACTED at school for “shoving” another student at school, so Austin came to pick them up. She further stated that she no longer lives with Austin and his children because “REDACTED choked me… on the neck.” She further stated that when they got home from school “he picked me up by the neck and he squeezed it where I cant…” When asked for more information of what happened between her and Austin that day, she stated that Austin made them sit on the couch and then he called REDACTED to him. REDACTED advised that REDACTED told the truth and then he was allowed to eat an apple. She stated that Austin then called her into the kitchen, and she told him that she “shoved a little girl” but she could not remember the rest. REDACTED then stated that Austin spanked/hit her with a thing that you flip ham over with (spatula) 5 times. She stated that Austin then called her mother and after their conversation he spanked/hit her again with a belt 3 times. REDACTED was then told she had to go her room to calm down because she was upset. She stated that Austin put her in her room by “carrying me by the neck.” When asked if she could breathe, she immediately stated, “No. He almost choked me and made me die.” then stated that when they got
upstairs to her room, Austin spanked her again with a belt and a shoe.”
During the interview, REDACTED asked REDACTED what happened to her neck, and she stated “I have bruises from his hands.”

Deputy Moates maintained he only spanked the child. He was arrested on 5/18 and released on $1000 bond on 5/19.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office did not have a comment over the weekend and the public information officer advised they will have to check on his employment with human resources Monday.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office looking for woman who threw a violent tantrum at a Lakeland McDonald’s

A Lakeland woman upset with the amount of time her order was taking at a Lakeland McDonald’s drive-thru stormed inside the restaurant Thursday afternoon, May 19, 2022 and became enraged.

Now, detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office are looking for 22-year old Tianis Jones of Lakeland after obtaining an arrest warrant for her, with charges for: Burglary with Assault, Criminal Mischief, and Disorderly Conduct.

The incident began at about 5:34 p.m. at the McDonald’s at 2606 US 92 East.

That’s when Jones walked inside of the store and began complaining to an employee behind the counter.

After about one minute, Jones turned things violent by first hitting a small plastic sign in the direction of the employee, then several bottles. Jones walked behind the counter and threw cups on the floor and at the employees. A relative of Jones came into the store and tried to hold Jones back and calm her down.

Despite being asked to leave multiple times, Jones remained inside of the store, and called 911 on her cell phone and told the operator, “I’m five month pregnantthese people don’t know how to run a m***********g McDonald’s!”

The entire commotion lasted ten minutes before Jones’ relative and another woman convinced her to leave.

As Jones got to the exit, she turned toward the employees, lifted her shirt to expose her belly, then turned and began twerking at them.

“I don’t know why this woman got as angry as she was, but as the saying goes, she’s a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Her actions were outrageousespecially for a place where small children often visit. And she caused about one hundred dollars in damages since the items she threw on the floor can’t be used for customers. She better not complain about the food we serve her at the county jail.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff.

If anyone has any information regarding the whereabouts of Tianis Jones, you are urged to call the PCSO at 863-298-6200, or Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS (8477).