Florida Criminal Attorney Blog
A 17-year-old male was arrested Wednesday by Pasco County police for involuntary sexual battery on a teenage girl. The alleged rape occurred at Fivay High School in Hudson, Florida.
The girl told police that the teenage male sent her a text in November to meet him near a boy’s restroom in the high school. The girl said the male pulled her into a boy’s bathroom stall and raped her.
According to BayNews9, the teenager denied any sexual contact with the girl and provided saliva samples for DNA testing to investigators. Testing revealed that his DNA was on the pants the girl was wearing the day of the alleged rape.
The teenager later told police that he lied about not having sexual relations with the girl, but said he did not have sex with her in the alleged time or place of the reported incident.
The teen’s name has not been released as he is not being tried as an adult.
Florida has very strict penalties for teens convicted of sex offenses. Many times sexual offenses allegedly committed by a juvenile are denied bond because of the serious nature the juvenile court system upholds. Juvenile cases are handled quite differently than adult criminal cases; the biggest difference being that juveniles are not given due process. Juvenile cases are heard by a judge who determines the punishments without a jury.
The laws in Florida regarding sex crimes vary by the degree of the crime committed. Penalties for a misdemeanor sex crime could entail jail time of less than a year or probation, a fine, and community service. Penalties for a felony offense, such as sexual battery, can include a lengthy prison term and lifetime registration as a sex offender. The most serious penalty for committing a sex crime as a juvenile is the possibility of registering as a sex offender for life. Any Juvenile 14 years of age or older found guilty of committing, attempting, soliciting or conspiring to commit sexual battery, lewd and lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious molestation are required to register within the Florida database.
If your child, nephew or niece, grandchild or friend’s child has been charged with a Juvenile crime in Florida, contact the Florida Juvenile Crime Lawyers at the Law Offices of Whittel & Melton, LLC online or call 1-866-608-5LAW (5529).