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West Palm Beach Man Accused of Sexual Assaulting a Plantation Child
February 5, 2014
A 21-year-old West Palm Beach man is accused of having sexual relations with a four-year-old girl in 2009, Plantation police are alleging.
The arrest report alleges that the attacks occurred in 2009 when the man was 17. He and the young girl lived in Plantation at the time and he would show her pornographic DVDs before engaging in sex acts seen on the screen.
The man warned the girl not to tell anyone and she kept silent for years. She eventually told her mother, who was hesitant to contact police, according to investigators, because she was afraid that reporting the abuse would put her traumatized daughter in foster care and break up her marriage.
The man was arrested Thursday and charged with sexual assault on a child under 12, according to Broward jail records. He is being held in jail without bond.
Generally, it’s our experience at Whittel & Melton that the more time that passes between an alleged crime and when it is charged, the harder it is for the State Attorney’s Office to meet its burden of proof in the case. This is because witnesses’ memories tend to fade over time. Facts and timelines become fuzzy and young victims, like the one is this case, have especially vulnerable memories. In fact, there are special hearsay rules in Florida that come into play when the State is seeking to introduce past statements made by a child regrading abuse- to ensure not only that the statements are reliable, but also to keep the child from being unnecessarily victimized during the trial process.
If you have been charged with Sexual Battery, you need an attorney who has a proven track record of defending these cases and obtaining positive results for their clients. The Broward County Sex Crimes Attorneys at Whittel & Melton are dedicated to defending those wrongly accused of Sexual Battery, Rape, Sexual Assault, Statutory Rape and other Sex Offenses.
Call us today to discuss your case.
Local (561) 367-8777 or statewide, toll-free: (866) 608-5529.