A 46-year-old former professor at a Florida college and Democratic politician faces charges after an investigation into a July incident in which he was found with a 15-year-old girl at a hotel.

Richard Tapia of Palm Coast was initially arrested in July after he was found at a Palm Coast hotel with a 15-year-old who had been listed as missing, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. He was charged with interference with child custody. As September ended, authorities re-arrested him on additional charges of lewd or lascivious battery on a minor after forensic testing confirmed his DNA was present in a sexual assault kit involving the missing 15-year-old.

The July incident ended when the girl’s mother learned of her whereabouts and sent police to the hotel. Sheriff Rick Staly credited the mother’s determination with starting the investigation and said detectives built a strong case. The sheriff’s office is seeking to determine whether there are additional victims. Tapia was taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and held on $350,000 bond.

Miami Dade College terminated Tapia after the first incident, calling the allegations deeply disturbing and inconsistent with the institution’s values. A later statement described the additional allegations as deeply troubling and the described conduct as reprehensible. This is the third arrest of a college employee in the past three months related to sexual crimes concerning minors.

Tapia ran for a Florida House seat in 2018 as a Democrat. He had spent three years as an adjunct professor at the college before being named a professor of political science and international relations in 2013