Gabbert previously served as a social work consultant and stability specialist with the Homelessness and Housing Alliance, where his tasks included partnering with the Fort Walton Beach Police Department to find housing for homeless people.
His previous jobs also included serving as lead case manager, housing coordinator and grant manager for the Gateway Community Service Board in Brunswick, Georgia; city manager and chief municipal finance officer for the city of South Fulton, Tennessee; and as a rehabilitation and skilled nursing facility administrator, mostly in Tennessee.
“This job (as the One Hopeful Place shelter manager) is right up my alley,” Gabbert said.
Pace man charged with traveling to Okaloosa for sex with underaged girl
From staff reports
Members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff s Office Cyber Crimes Unit have charged a Pace man with attempting to produce child pornography, traveling to meet a minor for sex and three other felonies.
John Mason Collins, 23, was arrested Jan. 8 after he traveled from Alabama to Okaloosa County to engage in unlawful sexual activity with a child under the age of 15, according to a OCSO news release.
Between Dec. 17, 2020, and Jan. 8, 2021, an undercover investigator posing as a 14-year-old girl had social media conversations with Collins in which he solicited the minor for sexual encounters and images that would constitute production of child pornography, according to Collins arrest report.
‘Operation Home Alone’: Alabama man arrested in Florida for allegedly soliciting sex from teen
Updated Dec 22, 2020;
By Nick Tomecek Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach (TNS) and Tribune Media Services
A joint law enforcement sting effort targeting individuals soliciting sex with an underage girl led to five arrests during “Operation Home Alone.”
All five suspects are charged with using a computer to solicit a minor, traveling to meet a minor for sex, and use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony, according to a press release from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Suspects arrested: Robert Peterson, 24, of Fort Walton Beach
From staff reports
A 63-year-old Fort Walton Beach man was killed in a hit-and-run Sunday evening, according to a Fort Walton Beach Police Department news release.
About 5:30 p.m., Fort Walton Beach police officers responded to a call regarding a pedestrian in the roadway near the Raceway gas station at 312 Miracle Strip Parkway SW.
Upon arrival, officers discovered David Hayes had been struck by a vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the release said.
Video surveillance from the area shows a newer-model, red Ford Mustang striking the victim and fleeing the scene eastbound on Miracle Strip Parkway Southwest.
Robert Peterson, 24, of Fort Walton Beach
Teswayne Hanna, 27, of Destin
Cody Jones, 26, of Laurel Hill
Phillip Rugg, 37, of Opp, Alabama
Jones faces an additional charge of attempted production of child pornography by asking for sexual images, OCSO officials said.
During “Operation Home Alone” between Dec. 14-18, the five defendants solicited an undercover officer, posing as a 14-year-old juvenile female, for sexual encounters via social media platforms and traveled to a predetermined location to have sex with the girl, OCSO said.
The OCSO, Fort Walton Beach Police Department, Crestview Police Department, State Attorney’s Office, and Walton County Sheriff’s Office took part.