A former Robertsdale Public Works director was arrested recently in Florida. David Girard, 53, of Robertsdale, is charged with online solicitation of a minor and attempted lewd and lascivious battery. He was booked into the Santa Rosa County jail. Girard’s bond has been set at $32,500 according to Marc Ward, Assistant Public Information Officer at the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office.

Girard, Ward says, was arrested at the intersection of Scenic Highway and Interstate 10 March 19.

Girard, 53, was Robertsdale’s Public Works Director from 1993 to 2001. He was fired in January of 2001 after he was charged by a Baldwin County grand jury with 10 counts of possession of child pornography.

He was convicted, and was sentenced to spend three years in jail, but an Alabama Supreme Court ruling said he could be convicted on only one count.

Girard, according to Independent files and Robertsdale Mayor Charles Murphy, was injured in September 1999 when a front end bucket fell from a city backhoe, crushing his foot.

According to an e-mail from Murphy, “The city paid no penalties due to his termination, he did collect workman comp benefits before his departure from the city and I’m not sure how his claim on the injury was settled with our insurance carrier.”

Girard’s arrest came as a result of work by various law enforcement agencies coordinated by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s CyberCrime unit. According to authorities, two other suspects, Jason Hatch of Milton, Fla., and Joseph Misleh of Mary Esther, Fla., were arrested at the same time.

“We (the CyberCrime unit) went up on several Web sites frequented by predators looking for children,” Ward said. He added the officer who engaged Girard was playing the part of a 14-year-old male.

Hatch was charged with two counts of possession of child pornography. Misleh was charged with with online solicitation of a minor and traveling to meet a minor for a sexual encounter. Misleh was booked into the Okaloosa County jail, and Hatch was booked into the Santa Rosa County jail.

Then Lt. Huey “Hoss” Mack (now Sheriff Mack) said the earlier investigation of Girard came after Michigan law enforcement asked the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office to see if a resident of Michigan, Allen Littrell, then 18, was at Girard’s home. Littrell was reported missing in Michigan, and police in Michigan believed Littrell may have been in contact with Girard.

According to Independent files, Littrell was found at Girard’s home, and it as discovered that Littrell was in possession of “obscene materials.”

A search warrant was obtained, and more obscene material was found, leading to Girard’s arrest.

According to a press release issued by McCollum, the following agencies worked on the current case: (the) “Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Pensacola Police Department, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Gulf Breeze Police Department, the Milton Police Department, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, the State Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit, the Fort Walton Beach Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Pensacola Junior College Police Department, the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Services and the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.”