TAVARES, Florida—A woman who has allegedly allowed a 14-year-old runaway to hide in her home several times since March, was arrested for a trio of crimes Friday after Tavares Police Department found the boy at the house yet again.
TPD responded to the home on Kellogg Drive Tuesday while investigating the runaway juvenile who has been the subject of eight different calls to law enforcement since March, according to the arrest affidavit. The boy, who Inside Lake is not naming, has been recovered at or near the home four separate times, the arresting officer noted.
The boy’s father called TPD and said he may be at the home, where the boy’s friend lives with his grandparents and father but could not respond himself due to being trespassed from the residence. He said he told the adults, including Linda Sue Rutledge, that his son was not allowed at the home, the affidavit states.
The officer knocked on the door of the home and spied a juvenile male peeking through the curtains in a front window for approximately 10 minutes before returning to her vehicle to wait on additional officers. A neighbor approached the officer and said she had seen a male matching the runaway’s description dropped off just moments before the officer arrived, according to the affidavit.
About 10 minutes after TPD stopped knocking, Rutledge 72, finally answered the door and said she had been asleep and asked if TPD was there for the boy and she had not seen or heard from him that day— before the officer could ask about him, the affidavit states.
The officer told Rutledge the boy ran away from home again and asked her if he was in the home. Rutledge told the officer her disabled husband was the only one in the house and the officer asked if either one of them was in the front bedroom when she saw the juvenile peeking through the curtains. Rutledge reportedly said no one else was in the house and the officer requested to search the home. Rutledge refused and said she would search herself; a few minutes later she returned to the front door with the runaway boy.
Rutledge told the officer she did not know the boy was in the house because she had been asleep. The officer asked to see video from the security camera on the front of the home and Rutledge told her they only record at night. When the officer pointed out they were recording right then, Rutledge reportedly said, “They only record when I want them to,” the affidavit states.
The officer continued to question Rutledge and she changed her story about being asleep and refused to provide any more information. The boy was turned over to his father.
On Friday, TPD interviewed the boy. He said Rutledge allowed him in her home through the front door Tuesday and they had a conversation about why he ran away. He left the home on foot to meet a friend and was later dropped off not long before before TPD showed up—just as the neighbor told the officer Tuesday. He confirmed he was looking through the window at the officer and told Rutledge the police were at the home. He said Rutledge acknowledged his comment but stayed in the house for a brief time before opening the door and speaking with the officer, the affidavit states.
The boy told police he likes going to Rutledge’s home because she allows the boys to smoke marijuana and use nicotine vapes in her grandson’s bedroom and the garage, and his parents do not allow that type of behavior.
Rutledge was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, false information to a law enforcement officer and interference with child custody. She was transported to the Lake County Jail, where she was released on $8,000 bond.
