A Winter Haven man pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexually molesting three girls on numerous occasions in 2017. Following the plea, David Kelly Whitchard, 32, was sentenced by Circuit Judge Neil Roddenbery to 25 years in prison followed by a lifetime of sexual predator probation. He pleaded guilty to three counts of lewd molestation. Assistant […]
An Orlando man who had lengthy sexually explicit text exchanges with a Polk Sheriff’s detective posing as a 14-year-old girl then traveled 30 miles to meet the teen faces up to 30 years in prison after his conviction on Thursday. Joseph Mujica, 55, was convicted of two second degree felonies, traveling to meet a minor […]
Six jurors took three hours Thursday to convict a Lakeland man of fatally stabbing a man during a bonfire party outside his home. Ronald Wagoner, 29, was found guilty of manslaughter with a weapon and tampering with a witness. Circuit Judge William “Bill” Sites will sentence Wagoner at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 25. He […]
During a May 1 encounter with Lake Wales Police, Maurice Heyward, 40, became violent with officers, even causing one of the officers to fall into and damage one of the department’s Ford Explorers. Prior to the incident, Heyward sped through a stop sign on his bicycle at Tillman Avenue and Second Street. When Heyward […]