Simmons, a Virginia man, was arrested in Lake City in July 2002 and charged with luring or enticing a child by use of an on-line service and transmission of materials harmful to a minor. The state alleged he traveled to Florida to seduce a 13-year-old girl he met in an Internet chat room. A Columbia County sheriff's deputy had posed as the child. Simmons challenged the constitutionality of both laws, arguing they violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, freedom of speech as guaranteed by both the U.S. and the Florida constitutions, and due process as guaranteed by the state constitution. The judge dismissed those challenges, and the 1st District Court of Appeal upheld that ruling.