Articles Posted in Sex Crimes in Jacksonville

Two teachers in Duval County were arrested on separate charges last week.  The first teacher teaches second grade at Greenland Pines Elementary.  According to a report on First Coast News, the teacher was under investigation and was being reassigned.  Upon hearing the news, the teacher allegedly became “enraged and aggressive”.  She was asked to leave by school staff and allegedly refused to leave the school.  At that point, after refusing to leave, the teacher was arrested for Trespassing on School Grounds after Warning, which is a first degree misdemeanor in Florida.  This further escalated the situation and the woman allegedly pushed the police officer.  Police report that the teacher continued to resist the officers and would not allow them to handcuff her.  In addition to the trespassing charge in Jacksonville, the teacher was also arrested for Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer.

In Florida, a law enforcement officer includes police, correctional officers, probation officers and Fish and Wildlife Commission officers.  A battery is when someone intentionally touches another against their will.  If the “victim” of a battery is a civilian, the criminal charge is considered a misdemeanor in Duval County.  When the victim is a law enforcement officer, the charge is elevated to a third degree felony.  Because the woman is a teacher, she likely has no criminal history.  Programs for people who have no previous arrests may allow her to have the charge dropped if she completes certain requirements, such as anger management and performing community service.  Probation in Jacksonville is also an option.

The other teacher is a chorus teacher at First Coast High School.  She is accused of having sexual contact with a student.  According to an article in the Florida Times Union, the victim was sixteen or seventeen years-old at the time.  This teacher has been charged with several counts of Unlawful Sexual Activity with Certain Minors.  Each of these charges is a second degree felony, punishable by up to fifteen years in prison and the possibility of becoming a sex offender in Florida.  Under Florida law, when a person who is 24 years-old or older engages in sexual activity with someone who is 16 or 17 years-old, they can be arrested for this charge.  Each act is considered another crime.  Sexual activity includes oral, anal or vaginal contact.  Under this law, the “victim’s” sexual history is considered not relevant.  As with the other teacher, this chorus director likely has no criminal past.  And although the victim’s prior sexual history is not considered important under the letter of the law, it is very important to understanding what happened and important in mitigating the charge.

A Jacksonville man has been arrested for and accused of taking a video of a six year-old boy while he was using the bathroom.  According to an article in The Florida Times Union, the crime allegedly occurred at a Walmart in the Northside of Duval County.  The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was called to the store after they boy’s brother, who is twelve years-old, told his parents he saw a cellphone in his brother’s bathroom stall.  After the man was confronted by the boy’s father, Walmart security staff held him there until police arrived.  According to the story, video surveillance showed that the man was in the bathroom for several hours prior to the alleged incident.

The man is charged with video voyeurism, which is considered a second degree felony in this case in Florida.  The maximum punishment if convicted is fifteen years in prison.  To prove the crime of video voyeurism in Jacksonville, the state attorney’s office must prove that the man intentionally used an imaging device to view or record the boy, without the boy’s knowledge or consent, who is privately exposing his body.  “Privately exposing the body” is defined as exposing a sexual organ.  “Imaging device” can be any electronic viewing device, camera, video camera or cell phone.  The state of Florida would also have to prove that the recording was made for the man’s amusement, sexual arousal or gratification.  Because the man is twenty nine  years-old and the boy is six, the crime is elevated to a second degree felony.  If the suspect was under nineteen, the voyeurism case would be considered a first degree misdemeanor.

While the crime of video voyeurism is sexual in nature, it is not considered a sex crime in Jacksonville that would require sex offender/predator registration.  Even though registration is not required when convicted of this crime, the likely punishment would include probation to complete many of the conditions required on a sex offender probation in Duval County.  The conditions may include getting a psychosexual evaluation and comply with any recommended follow-up, not being allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors, payment of restitution to the victim’s family for any psychological treatment of the boy, and possibly the wearing of a GPS monitor while on probation.

A man dubbed the “Arlington Rapist” has been arrested for yet another rape in Jacksonville.  According to an article on News4Jax.com, the man is currently serving a life sentence for a previous Duval County sexual assault.  The State Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville has been granted with funds to test untested rape kits.  Apparently a rape kit was tested from a 2005 sexual assault and kidnapping downtown.  The alleged victim reported that an unknown black male pointed a gun at her at the Greyhound Bus Station and was told to walk with him.  The man allegedly led her to a church and forced intercourse with her.  After, she had a sexual assault forensic exam.  Twelve years later, her examination was selected for further processing and was sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for DNA testing.  A foreign profile was discovered and it allegedly matched the man who was arrested.  The woman was shown a photo line up with the man in it and she could not identify her attacker, but told police none of the men were consensual sexual partners.

The man is facing kidnapping with a weapon and sexual battery charges in Florida.  Both charges are considered life felonies in Jacksonville.  To prove the charge of kidnapping in Florida, the state would have to prove that the man confined, abducted or imprisoned the woman by force, secret or threat with the intent to commit any felony.  Sexual battery is defined as any oral, anal or vaginal penetration or union with the sexual organ of another person without their consent.  The State Attorney’s Office has established a new unit within their office to handle these “cold cases”.  As more and more rape kits are tested, more and more people will be identified through DNA and will be eventually be arrested in Jacksonville on sex charges.  While DNA evidence is powerful, there is a spectrum of levels the DNA matches and points to a particular person.  The level of accuracy of the evidence found depends on how much of a foreign DNA strand is located in the kit.

Sexual charges are the most serious charges one can face.  They are punishable as if you have killed someone and there is rarely physical evidence.  Just someone saying it happened.  If you or someone you love is accused of committing a sex crime in Duval, Clay, Nassau or St. Johns Counties, call an experienced criminal attorney immediately.  You have the right to remain silent.  Exercise that right and call.

A Duval County teacher was arrested last week in Jacksonville for sex related crimes.  According to an article in the Florida Times Union, the male teacher is accused of sending and asking for pictures from underage children.  Police report that the educator used social media accounts while pretending to be a fifteen year-old.  The alleged victim reported the issue to police when the “fifteen year-old”  requested naked pictures from her, an underage girl.  Another girl told the first that she also was communicating with the man.  The second girl reportedly confronted the man and he allegedly told her he was a teacher.  While these sex charges are pending, the man is no longer able to go back to work.

The teacher is charged with two separate crimes.  The first is Sexual Performance by a Child, which is a second degree felony.  This charge carries up to 15 years in prison and a sexual offender designation.  In Jacksonville, “sexual performance” is defined as any performance that includes sexual conduct by a child less than 18 years of age.  A “performance” is further defined as any play, motion picture, picture, exhibition, show, image, data, computer depiction, representation or other presentation over a period of time.  In order to prove this charge in Duval County, the state attorney’s office has to prove that the teacher, knowing the content, he or she produces, directs or promotes any performance that includes sexual conduct of a child.

The other charge the teacher is facing is Transmission of Material Harmful to Minors by Electronic Device or Equipment.  The man has to have actual knowledge or believed the recipient of the communication was a child.  Knowing this, the state of Florida has to prove that the teacher believed he was transmitting an image, information or data that is harmful to minors.  This charge is one level down from the previous charge.  It is considered a third degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

A Jacksonville man has been arrested on a charge of video voyeurism, which is considered as a third degree felony in Florida.  According to an article in the Florida Times Union, the man and two women lived in a home together.  One of the women was taking a shower in the master bathroom and noticed that there was something black and hard in the loofah.  She found a small black object attached to the bottom and showed it to the suspect.  The man allegedly told her it was a camera.  The man also, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, allegedly claimed that he was a “dirty old man”.  It is not clear whether or not the man has a criminal history, but his bond was set very high at $25003.00.

Video voyeurism is not a common crime in Jacksonville, but that is the charge this man faces.  In order to convict someone of this Duval County sex crime, the State Attorney’s Office has to prove that the man intentionally used or installed an imaging device to secretly view or record the women, without them knowing.  They have to have been undressing or privately exposing their body at a place and time when they had a reasonable expectation of privacy.  Installing the camera has to be for his amusement, entertainment, sexual arousal, gratification, profit, or to degrade another person.  As you can see, there are quite a few things the prosecutor assigned to the case would have to prove.

Because the man is nineteen years of age or older, the crime of video voyeurism is considered a felony.  If convicted, the man faces up to five years in prison.  If the man was under nineteen, the crime would be considered a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail.

A fireman working in Jacksonville has been arrested for solicitation of a child via computer and unlawful use of a two-way communication device out of St. Johns County.  According to a report in the Florida Times Union, the man allegedly engaged in an online discussion with a child he was told was fourteen years-old.  The discussion, according to the police, turned sexual, with the firefighter allegedly sending pictures of himself to the “girl”.  A St. Johns County arrest warrant was issued and he was arrested shortly after.

This arrest was out of a sting called Operation Cruel Summer.  Periodically, police departments all over Florida conduct online trolling operations and make several sex crime arrests.  Local law enforcement will usually post an online profile on a website, such as Craigslist.  The men will begin a chat with a detective posing as a child and the “child” will eventually reveal his or her age.  Some of the men continue the conversation, whether via email, text or messaging.  Some men will ask for pictures and send pictures of themselves.  Some clothed and some not.  Often times, the “child” will ask the men to meet up at a location, usually their house.  This house has been procured by the police and is full of officers waiting to pounce on the suspect as soon as he comes to the door.

The charges that come out of these stings can vary, but the most common are what the firefighter has been charged with.  Solicitation of a child via computer is a third degree felony and is considered a “sex” crime in Florida.  If convicted, at a minimum, the man will be a sex offender for the rest of his life.  Any person who uses a computer service to seduce, solicit lure a person believed to be a child to commit a sex act is guilty of this offense.  The maximum time in prison for this St. Johns County sex case is five years.  The other felony charged is unlawful use of a two-way communication device, which also is a third degree felony.  Although punishable by the same amount of prison time, this is not considered a sex crime in Florida.  Any person who uses a two-way communications device, such as email or text, to facilitate or further the commission of ANY felony commits this crime.

A local former church director was recently arrested for a sex charge allegedly involving an underage girl.  According to an article from First Coast News, the man was arrested for capital sexual battery, which is punishable by mandatory life in prison if he is convicted as charged.  In addition to this life charge, the former director is also charged with showing obscene material to the minor child.  This is a third degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.  Police believe there may be more victims that have yet to come forward.  The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office interviewed the man and he allegedly admitted to the one minor in this case and alluded to the fact there may be others.

The first, and most serious charge, is capital sexual battery in Jacksonville.  If a person is convicted of this charge, the judge would have to sentence that person to life in prison.  A judge would have no discretion.  Capital sexual battery is when an adult commits a sexual battery on a child under twelve years of age.  “Sexual Battery” is defined as any oral, anal or vaginal penetration, or touching of, by sexual organ of the perpetrator or by an object.  The other sex charge is showing obscene materials to a minor.  A person cannot knowingly sell, rent, loan, give a way, distribute, transmit or show any obscene materials to a minor.  “Obscene” is defined as material that the average person would, taken as a whole, appeal to prurient interests, depicts in an offensive way sexual conduct and taken as a whole lacks any serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.  “Materials” are any book, magazine, periodical, pamphlet, newspaper, photo, video, etc.

The Sheriff’s office, according to the report, interviewed the man in this case and he allegedly confessed to the crime and possibly admitted to others.  When someone is accused of a sex crime in Duval County, the police follow a protocol.  A call comes into the police, usually through 911, and a patrol officer goes to the scene.  The alleged victim, or victim’s parents, talk to the patrol officer.  A sex crime detective is assigned at some point after and a Child Protection Team forensic interview is scheduled.  The child is taken to the interview and without the parents being present, the child is interviewed.  That forensic interview is usually videotaped.

A Jacksonville man has been arrested for Lewd or Lascivious Exhibition on a child after a week-long search.  According to an article on News4Jax.com, last week, an eight year-old child told police a man came up to him in a car and asked it the child had seen the man’s cat.  While showing a picture of the cat to the boy, the man allegedly masturbated his penis after pulling his pants down.  The day after, the boy claims to have seen the suspect’s car and had his mother take a picture.  Police generated a sketch of the suspect from the child’s memory and posted it on the television and social media.  The suspect’s car was also posted.  News4Jax reports that the man’s boyfriend saw the pictures and confronted the suspect.  The suspect went to the police station and was interviewed.  He did not leave.  The man was arrested on this Jacksonville sex charge.

The man faces a lewd or lascivious exhibition charge in Jacksonville.  In order to prove the charge, the state attorney’s office has to show that the man intentionally masturbated, intentionally exposed his genitals in a lewd or lascivious manner or intentionally committed a sexual act that did not involve physical contact with the alleged victim.  Examples of this could be bestiality or simulations of sexual activity.  If the suspect is eighteen years-old or older and the alleged victim is under sixteen, the charge is considered a second degree felony punishable by up to fifteen years in prison.

A $100,003 bond was set in Duval County for this case.  Accused sex suspects, in Jacksonville and all over Florida, are considered especially dangerous by prosecutors and the judiciary.  Even though there is no allegation of touching in this case, the man must post a very high bond to be released to fight his charge.  In cases involving any type of sex accusation, there very often is no physical evidence to corroborate the alleged victim’s statement.  But it is that statement that leads to an arrest and being held in jail, all while the suspect has the presumption of innocence.  The state attorney’s office has to prove the charge beyond all reasonable doubt and until they do, the accused is considered innocent under the law.

Controversial Jacksonville preacher, Kenneth Adkins, has been sentenced after being found guilty of several child sex charges in Brunswick, Georgia.  According to an article on News4Jax, Adkins was sentenced to thirty-five years in prison followed by sex offender probation for his natural lifetime.  Adkins was accused of having sexual contact with both a teenage girl and boy.  Per the article, Adkins criminal defense attorney argued that the teenage boy was sixteen at the time of sexual contact.  This is relevant because the age of consent in Georgia is sixteen.

This is in stark contrast to Florida’s age of consent.  In Florida, and many other states, eighteen is the minimum age that a person can consent to sex.  Consent is defined as intelligently, knowingly and voluntarily consenting to the contact and cannot be coerced.  Ages of both the accused and the alleged victim are extremely important to the various sex charges in Jacksonville.  For example, sexual battery, or rape, in Jacksonville is defined as oral, anal or vaginal penetration by any means without consent.  If a person eighteen years of age or older commits a sexual battery on another adult, the crime is considered a second degree felony punishable by up to fifteen years in prison.  If the accused is eighteen or older and the alleged victim is twelve or older and less than eighteen, the sex crime is elevated to a first degree, punishable by up to life.  The same elevations apply to lewd or lascivious crimes in Florida. Lewd molestation is when someone intentionally touches, in a lewd or lascivious way, the breasts, genitals, genital area or buttocks or the clothes over them of a person under sixteen years of age.  If the accused is eighteen or older and the alleged victim is less than twelve years of age, it is considered a life felony.  If the accused is an adult and the alleged victim is twelve or older but less than sixteen, the level is dropped to a second degree felony.

No matter the ages, when someone is convicted of a sex crime in Florida, they are looking at being a sex offender or predator for their entire life.  Restrictions will be placed on where they can live, where they can work and who they can associate with.  In addition to the registration, they are subject to being on sex offender probation, which is the most stringent probation by far in our state.  Sex offender probation in Florida includes intensive psychosexual counseling, periodic polygraph examinations, restrictions of where you can live, restrictions on where you work, restrictions on where you go and restrictions on being around any minors, including natural born children.

A Jacksonville man is in police custody facing a pending sexual battery charge.  The man also happens to be a registered sexual predator in Florida who is on probation.  According to an article in the Florida Times Union, the man was drinking with a woman and later in the night, the woman claimed she woke up to her pants being pulled down.  She alleges the man engaged in several sex acts with her without her consent.  The man then quickly left the apartment because he had a curfew as part of his probation, according to the woman.  Another condition of the suspect’s probation is that he wear a GPS monitor.  Police confirmed that the man was at the alleged victim’s apartment at the time of the alleged rape.  The man’s DNA was allegedly found on the woman’s pants.

Because the man was arrested for a new law violation while on probation, his Duval County sex offender probation is going to be violated.  Even though he now has a $500,000 bond on the new sex charge, the bond for the violation of probation will almost surely be NONE.  That means once arrested on the violation, he cannot bond out at all.  When you are on probation in Jacksonville and are arrested on any new charge, you can be violated if the new arrest was based on probable cause.  That means that more likely than not, the arresting officer believed a crime was committed.  The man is on probation for sexual battery of a minor, which is a first degree felony.  That means he is facing up to thirty years in prison if he is found in violation of his probation.  This possible sentence does not include the new charge.

The new sex charge is sexual battery, which is a second degree felony in Florida.  If filed, this charge carries a maximum of fifteen years in prison.  Sexual battery, also referred to as rape, is usually a he said/she said.  That appears to be the situation in this case, although police claim the man denied any sexual contact with the woman.  This presents a problem if his semen was in fact found on her pants.  The fact that the man is a registered sex predator is going to hurt his credibility with prosecutors assigned to make the decision on whether or not to file the new charge.

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