Man arrested, accused of child abuse

Monroe County deputies arrested a 53-year-old man for child molestation Tuesday morning.

Child Protections Services contacted the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department Oct. 19, 2013, to report a 14-year-old girl was molested by her stepfather.

The girl told CPS that the molestation began six months prior, according to court documents.

A CPS investigator told the sheriff’s department that both the mother and stepfather said he had spent time in the girl’s bedroom.

The girl was brought to Susie’s Place, a child advocacy center routinely used by police enforcement for forensic interviewing. She told the interviewer that on a regular basis during several months her stepfather would enter her bedroom and molest her while her mother was at work or asleep.

On Nov. 6, the CPS investigator met with the girl, confirming the molestation began shortly after she turned 13 years old.

The CPS investigator told the MCSD the mother texted her daughter pretending to be the stepfather in an attempt to protect him and create problems with the investigation, according to court documents.

On Nov. 20, the stepfather denied sexual contact with the girl. The mother said her daughter was sexually active and behaved inappropriately in front of him.

She denied texting her daughter pretending to be the stepfather, but she did not let the investigator examine her cellphone, saying it was “fried” and she had since replaced it.

The mother said her daughter made the claim of child molestation during a tantrum and afterwards she recanted.

The stepfather was arrested at 2:40 a.m. Tuesday at his home on South Phyllis Street, MCSD Chief Deputy Michael Pershing said. He bonded out at 12:06 p.m. Tuesday with $50,000 surety and $1,000 cash.

The man’s initial hearing is scheduled today at 1:30 p.m. in Fifth Monroe County Circuit Court.

CPS placed the girl with her father and stepmother.

Dennis Barbosa