A 65-year-old Leesburg, Florida man was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexual battery with a victim under 12, nine counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and showing obscene material to a minor. The man allegedly told detectives that he and the victim, a young girl under the age of 12, were in a relationship.
The girl supposedly slept over the man’s home a few times from January through March of this year. The attacks allegedly took place in the man’s bedroom while everyone else was asleep. According to police reports, he supposedly introduced the young girl to pornographic films.
The man evidently acknowledged that his actions were wrong to police, and that he knew could get into trouble. He was taken to the Lake County jail and remains on a $137,000 bond.
The National Alert Registry estimates that one out of every three to four girls has been sexually assaulted by age 18 and one boy out of every six will be abused by the age of 18. The term child molestation in Florida is used broadly and covers any sexual activity that transpires between a minor and an adult.
The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect defines child molestation as any contact or interactions between a child and an adult that results in the child being exposed to sexual stimulation of the adult perpetrator that is in a role of authority over the child victim. This explanation has been lengthened to include making a child view sexual acts or pornography and exposing an adult’s genitals to a child as a form of child molestation. While penalties for child molestation vary greatly from state to state, Florida has one of the harshest consequences for child molestation−a 25-year mandatory prison term for sex offenders.
If you have been accused of child molestation anywhere in the state of Florida, contact the Florida Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers online or call 866-608-5529.