A Summerfield sex offender from New York who owns a lawn service was jailed Thursday after failing to report a change in his employment status.
Peter David Czaplicki, 52, was convicted in September 2000 in Suffolk County, N.Y., of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy. The convictions required him to register as a sex offender and he has completed 48 required registration forms, with the most recent being on April 22.
On that date, Czaplicki reported to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office’s Sexual Offender Predator Unit and removed a gray 2008 Pontiac G6 from his registration. The vehicle, which was sold in January, belonged to Czaplicki’s live-in girlfriend, a sheriff’s office report states.
Czaplicki was informed that all vehicle changes were required to be reported within 48 hours, which he failed to do. He was told that any future violations of his requirements could result in his arrest, the report says.
Czaplicki told a registration specialist that he was unemployed and did occasional side jobs. He said he didn’t have a professional license and signed Florida Department of Law Enforcement sexual offender registration forms saying he understood the requirements placed on him, the report says, adding that Czaplicki’s last reported employment was at Gator’s Dockside from March 3, 2020 to Jan. 11 of this year.
On Tuesday, a sheriff’s deputy responded to Czaplicki’s residence to conduct an address verification. He observed a lawn trailer in the yard and noted that Czaplicki was employed at Clean Cut Lawn Service. A computer search revealed that Czaplicki had applied for a business license on July 20, 2020 at 5940 S.E. 140th Place in Summerfield with a company name of Clean Cut Lawn Service, the report says, adding that the license expires on Dec. 31, 2025.
A corporal with the sheriff’s office’s Major Crimes Department spoke with Czaplicki by phone and asked him about his current employment status. He said he was the owner of Clean Cut Lawn Service “because no one wants to hire him due to his charges.” He confirmed that he had a business license and said he didn’t know he was required to report it to the sheriff’s office. He was told to report to the Sexual Offender Unit on Thursday with a copy of his professional license, the report says.
Czaplicki reported in on Thursday and after being read his rights, he confirmed that he had acquired a business license in July 2020 and started his own company, which he said he didn’t expect to “take off so quickly.” He was reminded that he had signed multiple registration forms since he started his employment and received his professional license and had signed an FDLE registration form claiming that he was unemployed and didn’t have a professional license. He was then placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail.
Czaplicki, who originally is from Hempstead, N.Y., was charged with sex offender violations of failing to register changes to employment and knowingly providing false registration information by act or omission. He was being held on no bond and his next court date hasn’t yet been set, jail records show.
