Absconded sex offender from Gainesville, FL arrested in Bronson, FL
Mugshot graphic of Mr. Eddy courtesy of LCSO
Levy County Sheriff's Office (LCSO)
Bronson, Florida - On March 21, 2025 Levy County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) detectives investigating a child abuse complaint in the Bronson, Florida area spoke with a man who identified himself as “Rusty Eddy.” This name was later determined by detectives to be an alias for John Russell Eddy, Jr., who has been a registered sexual offender in the state of Florida since 2010.
The investigation revealed that Mr. Eddy had been living for a month at the location where the child abuse had been reported, and although he was not a suspect of the child abuse, he was a potential witness. Detectives learned that Eddy had moved to Bronson from Gainesville (Alachua County), Florida in February 2025, but he had not reported to officials in Alachua County that he'd moved, so he was designated as an absconded sexual offender from Alachua County. Mr. Eddy had previously registered as a transient sex offender residing in GRACE Marketplace, a homeless resource center located in Gainesville.
On March 24, 2025, LCSO detectives returned to the Bronson, Florida property and placed Mr. Eddy under arrest, charged with one count of failure to register an address change as a sexual offender, with his bond set at $50,000.