‘SpongeBob’ Fan Faces Sex-Related Charges, More Victims Possible: Police

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A 32-year-old St. Petersburg man wanted in connection with the recent molestation of two children found himself in police custody Monday morning after two separate incidents occurred in the city involving grown women. In one of those incidents, the man was reportedly wearing distinctive “SpongeBob SquarePants” fan gear.

According to St. Petersburg Police, a woman who lives in the area of 21st Avenue South and 7th Street woke up on her couch just after 7:15 a.m. Jan. 30 to find a man in “SpongeBob clothing” standing over her. When the woman started to call police, the man fled the home, an email from the agency said.

Just 20 minutes later, police say a man was seen near 22nd Avenue South and 5th Street peeping into a woman’s window as she was getting dressed for work. As officers arrived in the area, they spotted the man and chased him into a yard in the 500 block of 25th Avenue South, the email said.

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The man, identified as Steven Charles Kirkland, attempted to hide from officers inside a trash can, the email said. That, however, didn’t pan out and Kirkland was brought into custody. Police say Kirkland was wearing a jacket and shoes that had “SpongeBob” logos on them.

Kirkland was charged with occupied residential burglary, loitering and prowling, trespassing and unoccupied residential burglary in connection with Monday’s incidents. Police say he also had two outstanding warrants for lewd and lascivious molestation on a child under the age of 12. Those warrants stemmed from a Jan. 22 incident. The two children involved, police say, did not know Kirkland prior to the incident.

Kirkland may also face indecent exposure charges in regard to an issue that arose at Bay Vista Park on Jan. 22, the agency’s email said.

“Detectives believe there could be more victims,” the email said. Anyone with information about additional victims is asked to call the police department at 727-893-7780.

Kirkland was being booked into the Pinellas County Jail Monday morning. Further details about the incidents are not yet available.

2012 booking photo of Steven Charles Kirkland courtesy of the St. Petersburg Police Department