(Marion County, FL) Yesterday, in the courtroom of the Honorable Judge Barbara Kissner-Kwatkosky, jurors found 26-year-old Terry Eugene Hartsock III guilty of Lewd and Lascivious Battery.

Hartsock was arrested in October of 2022 following a Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) investigation into a missing juvenile.  

On October 22, 2022, HCSO deputies took a report of a missing 13-year-old female child. The mother of the juvenile reported to officials that her daughter was last seen on their home porch around 10 p.m. that night after coming back from a fall festival.

Law enforcement was able to collect details on what clothing the juvenile was wearing prior to going missing. Authorities issued a BOLO, and due to the child’s missing and endangered status, were able to conduct an emergency ping of the child’s cellphone, which was discovered to have last pinged in Ocala near I-75. 

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office was contacted in reference to the missing juvenile and informed of her last location. Officials were also able to obtain the juvenile’s last text messages which indicated she was possibly picked up by the defendant. An address was obtained for Hartsock where it was learned he resided in a camper trailer in an RV park off Silver Springs Blvd.

Both the HCSO and MCSO responded to the address and attempted contact with Hartsock, who initially didn’t open the door for law enforcement. Once contact was made, the juvenile was located inside the bedroom of the camper.

After being reunited with her parents, the juvenile disclosed sexual acts committed by Hartsock upon the juvenile while inside his home. A SANE examination was conducted, taking various swabs from the juvenile victim. The DNA collected from the swabs matched that of the defendant.

This case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Katrina Self.

Published on 08/15/2025.