Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Phillip Lee Everett, Jr., 29, was arrested yesterday and charged with two counts of lewd/lascivious battery on a 15-year-old who was allegedly trafficked, generating numerous criminal cases.

At least five people were previously arrested in connection with this victim, and Donovan Grimes is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence for lewd/lascivious battery on the same victim after entering a plea of nolo contendere to the charge.

The victim reportedly disclosed during a follow-up interview that she’d had sexual relations with Everett when she was 15 years old. She said her mother, who has been charged with child neglect in the case, wanted her to date Everett instead of Grimes; the victim’s mother reportedly confirmed that she had encouraged the victim to pursue a relationship with Everett.

The victim reportedly said that while Grimes was in jail, she’d had sexual intercourse with Everett two or three times and believed that Everett had given her a sexually transmitted disease that hospitalized her. She said they stayed in an abandoned apartment at Pointe West Apartments and that they used the closets as bedrooms, believing that if they were quiet behind the closet doors, nobody would check the closets for squatters.

Six other people involved in the case reportedly told the detective that they were aware at the time that Everett was having sexual intercourse with the victim, and the victim reportedly told Grimes on a recorded phone call while he was in jail that Everett had been very forceful and persistent in getting her to have sex with him.

An Alachua County Sheriff’s Detective contacted Everett on January 31, 2025, and post Miranda, he reportedly admitted having sexual intercourse with the juvenile victim twice at Pointe West Apartments. He initially said he didn’t know at the time that she was 15, but he later admitted that he knew she was underage and also said he had taken her to school.

Everett has been charged with two counts of lewd/lascivious battery on a victim under the age of 16. He has one local misdemeanor conviction from 2016 for driving without a valid license. Judge George Wright ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.