SUMTER COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – A Sumter County man has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty in a sexual battery of child case.
66-year-old Fredrick Leroy Connell was found guilty by Sumter County jurors of Sexual Battery upon a Person under Twelve Years of Age.
Connell was sentenced to a lifetime in the Florida Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole on Wednesday, July 17.
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The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) says they first received word on September 30, 2021, that Connell had sexually battered a child victim.
They say a student alerted school officials about the sexual abuse following a presentation held in a health class by E3 Family Solutions.
Deputies then interviewed the victim for further investigation at the Lake Sumter Children’s Advocacy Center.
The victim informed deputies that the sexual abuse occurred on multiple occasions between 2013 and 2015.
Connell maintained his innocence and denied accusations of sexual battery.
After interviewing several people, deputies say they had probable cause to arrest Connell on December 29, 2021.
After over two years of prosecution, Connell will now be spending the rest of his life in confinement.
“Acts like this will not go unpunished in our circuit,” said Bill Gladson, Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney. ” I commend this brave child for speaking up and telling a trusted adult what occurred. They have undoubtedly saved future victims from this predator.”