Ex-Beach firefighter pleads not guilty to sex charge

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FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — A Fort Myers Beach firefighter who resigned amid allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl pleaded not guilty to a formal charge Friday, circuit court documents show.

The Florida State Attorney’s office charged Bonita Springs resident Stephen Reynaert, 28, with sexual activity with a child, a felony, but declined to move forward with a count of sexual assault and battery.

Reynaert was booked into Lee County Jail and released on bond in August. He resigned from the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District earlier this month.

The girl was 13 when the more than yearlong relationship began and is 14 now, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said. It was her mother who told authorities, said deputies, who were notified by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

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