The Frankfort man charged with trying to pick up a prostitute in the presence of his young son while their family vacationed in August in Florida has rejected a plea deal, an official says.
The official in the Florida State Attorney's office said John W. Phillips, 46, 205 Hiawatha Trail, appeared in Volusia County District Court Nov. 24.
Phillips pleaded innocent to misdemeanor charges of causing a minor to become delinquent or dependent and said he planned to hire an attorney, according to the official.
Florida State Attorney spokeswoman Linda Pruitt told The State Journal Monday Phillips said in court he would not accept a plea agreement and that he would go to trial.
Police reports said Phillips attempted to solicit sex from an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute as his family vacationed in Daytona Beach.
Phillips initiated a conversation with the officer, asking if she was a cop, according to an Aug. 18 police report provided to The State Journal.
The officer, who was wearing a wire, told him "no," and asked him if he had money, according to the report.
Phillips and the officer agreed on $40 for oral sex and traditional sex and he parked his truck in a nearby lot before being arrested, the report said.
Meanwhile, Phillips' young son was sitting in the passenger seat of Phillips' vehicle, it said.
During the exchange, the report said, the officer asked Phillips, "What about your son?"
"It's okay, he's a man," Phillips replied, according to the report.
Pruitt said on Monday that Phillips was expected to plead no contest to the charges at the Nov. 24 court appearance, but rejected it instead.
The deal, Pruitt said, would have required Phillips to attend an eight-hour Internet course, be subject to random urinalysis and undergo six months of probation remotely.
The plea would have been on his record as part of the deal, Pruitt said.
His case is set for a pre-trial hearing Feb. 3 and is scheduled to be tried Feb. 23.