Wanted man found in Wal-Mart parking lot

St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Charles Mulligan reported to Historic City News today that Deputy Samantha English, curious about a suspicious van in the St. Augustine Wal-Mart parking lot this morning, found a 60-year-old man apparently living in the filthy vehicle with a 12-year-old girl who said she was his daughter.

The man, John M. Sesnick, was arrested after authorities determined he was indicted by a federal grand jury last week in Jacksonville on 12 counts of defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency out of thousands of dollars by posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim.

Sesnick said in court this afternoon that the charges were incorrect and he has documents to prove it. Nevertheless he was ordered held without bail pending a hearing Friday.

St. Johns deputies found pornography, piles of clothes, a training toilet, rotting food and bugs.

The girl was hiding under blankets and was turned over to the Department of Children and Families. A New Jersey birth certificate appeared to have been altered. Sesnick is being investigated for child neglect, said .

Deputies also found two crated dogs. They were turned over to animal control officials, Mulligan said.