Bracero-Reyes

JURY VERDICT: Poinciana man convicted of sexual battery, possession of child porn

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Jason Bracero-Reyes sexually battered a 12-year-old girl and filmed nude videos of her.

Jason Bracero-Reyes, 34, of Poinciana.

After 45 minutes of deliberation, a jury convicted Bracero-Reyes June 20 of two counts of sexual battery with familial or custodial authority, eight counts of promoting sexual performance of a child, and eight counts of possession of child pornography.

He is facing life in prison and will be sentenced August 3.

Assistant State Attorney Mattie Tondreault told jurors that from January of 2015 to March of 2017, Bracero-Reyes battered the victim multiple times. The girl would tell him to stop, but 34-year-old Bracero-Reyes told her that she would be punished if she did not cooperate.

He also told her that if she did not go along with his advances, he would tell her family members. Bracero-Reyes convinced her they would never want to spend time with her again if they found out.

The victim eventually found enough courage to write her mother a letter, detailing Bracero-Reyes’ abuse over the past two years. The victim’s mother immediately reported Bracero-Reyes to law enforcement.

During the investigation, detectives found Bracero-Reyes’ old cell phone. It contained eight explicit videos of the victim, which were all taken without the girl’s knowledge.

Bracero-Reyes had wiped the timestamp and location data from the videos. At trial, the defense argued it was impossible to say Bracero-Reyes filmed them because there’s no way to know when and where the videos were taken.

While Bracero-Reyes wiped all of the metadata, he did not change the title of each video, which included the date and time the video was filmed.

The defense also claimed the videos were planted on the cell phone and that anyone could have filmed it because you never see the face of the person behind the camera.

But Tondreault pointed out that the victim identifies Bracero-Reyes in one of the videos when she calls him by name.

State Attorney Brian Haas said he is thankful for the hard work and dedication of Assistant State Attorney Mattie Tondreault in making sure this dangerous man can never harm another child.

Wauchula man receives life in prison for child molestation

SENTENCING UPDATE: Wauchula man receives life in prison for child molestation

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Marvin Cook took advantage of two little girls and bribed them with money to keep quiet.

Marvin Cook, 62, of Wauchula.

Cook was convicted in October of sexual battery on a child under 12, four counts of lewd molestation, and one count of escape. He was designated a sexual predator and a dangerous sexual felony offender.

On April 24, Cook was sentenced to life in prison.

Assistant State Attorney David Stamey tried Cook’s case and said he molested the girls twice in a six-month period.

Two girls and two boys were playing in the street near Cook’s house in May of 2013, and they asked him for money to go to the neighborhood store. Cook gave the boys money and sent them on their way, but he told the girls they needed to play a game with him before they received theirs.

Cook lured the girls into his home and performed sexual acts on them. He told them not to tell their parents or the other little boys they were with, and once he gave them their money, he sent the girls to the store.

Months later, Cook was mowing a church lawn when he spotted the girls walking by. He lured them into the church, performed sexual acts on them, and gave them more money in exchange for their silence.

Shortly after the second incident, one victim’s grandmother overheard her talking to her brother, who was with her the first time Cook lured the girls into his house. She heard the two acknowledge that Cook touched her inappropriately.

Both of the victims were taken to the Hardee County Sheriff’s Office, where they identified Cook in a photo pack as the man who molested them.

When the Sheriff’s Office brought Cook in for questioning, he denied that anything had happened. As Cook was being moved from the investigation room to the detention room, they walked through the main lobby, and Cook took off running.

He made it off of HSCO property and into a nearby neighborhood before he was apprehended.

During trial, the defense argued that the victims identified the wrong man from the photo pack as the one who molested them.

Assistant State Attorney David Stamey. (FILE PHOTO)

But Stamey reminded jurors that when both girls took the stand, they pointed to Cook in the courtroom and identified him.

The defense also claimed that the victims made up the story and were not telling the truth.

“Why would they lie?” Stamey asked jurors in his closing arguments. “They got yanked out of school and had to talk about personal things with a stranger. They had to testify to strangers nearly four years later. What reward does that give them? What good has come out of this for the girls?”

Marcelin sentenced to 40 years for DUI manslaughter

SENTENCING UPDATE: Marcelin sentenced to 40 years for DUI manslaughter

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At the end of a two-hour hearing Monday, James Marcelin was sentenced to 40 years in Florida State Prison.

James Marcelin walks into the courtroom on Monday afternoon for his sentencing hearing. Judge Roddenbery handed down a 40-year sentence following Marcelin’s March conviction of DUI manslaughter.

Marcelin, 27, was convicted by a jury on March 22 of DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, two counts of DUI with serious bodily injury, two counts of reckless driving resulting in serious bodily injury, three counts of driving while license suspended or revoked, and one count each of grand theft of a motor vehicle and burglary of a conveyance.

Assistant State Attorney Amy Smith argued that Marcelin should be sentenced to the max because “he is a danger to society.”

Marcelin had been partying all day on April 16, 2015, when he made the decision to drive three of his friends to Haines City. The four men started the day in Winter Haven, where they drank alcohol, smoked marijuana, and did drugs.

They went to a second party in Orlando, where they continued to drink and smoke. When they ran out of marijuana, Marcelin got behind the wheel of the van and attempted to drive them to another party in Haines City.

At about 11:15 p.m., while traveling at least 20 MPH over the speed limit, Marcelin drifted off the road way and lost control, braking for 88 feet before crashing head-on into a tree. The collision killed 19-year-old Andrew Valdez and critically injured Jose Almanzar and James Richards.

Valdez was thrown from the front passenger seat and into the windshield, where he was entrapped. He lost consciousness and never regained it.

He died on May 14, 2015.

Almanzar had a broken spine and a brain bleed. Richards had a cracked skull, which required 22 staples.

Both men were unconscious after the collision.

Marcelin had his right leg broken in two spots and a broken left arm, broken pelvis, sternum, and ribs. Multiple witnesses saw him in the driver’s seat and said he was the only occupant still conscious.

Assistant State Attorney Amy Smith (right) stands in front of Judge Roddenbery during James Marcelin’s sentencing hearing Monday afternoon. Smith argued that Marcelin should be sentenced to the max because “he is a danger to society.”

Judge Roddenbery agreed with Smith’s argument that Marcelin is a danger, and he was designated a habitual offender.

Roddenbery handed down a 40-year prison sentence, and at the defense’s objection to the lengthy sentence, the judge reminded him that it was because Marcelin’s reckless actions seriously injured two people and killed another.

Mulberry man convicted of sexual battery, faces life in prison

JURY VERDICT: Mulberry man convicted of sexual battery, faces life in prison

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Johnathan Sharon forced his victim to perform sexual acts on him for 9 years.

Johnathan Sharon, 24, of Mulberry.

A jury deliberated for less than two hours Thursday before finding Sharon, 24, guilty of sexual battery on a victim under the age of 12 while the defendant is under the age of 18, lewd molestation, and committing an unnatural and lascivious act.

He is facing life in prison and will be sentenced July 11.

Assistant State Attorney Randi Daugustinis told the jury that Sharon started forcing himself on the victim when she was 6. He would pull her into a room, lock the door and punch or choke her until she cooperated.

The victim told her mother that Sharon was sexually abusing her, but she didn’t believe her. Sharon continued to force the victim into sexual acts until she was 14, and she reported it two years later.

On a controlled phone call with law enforcement, the victim confronted Sharon about the abuse. He told her, “I cannot remember much of anything before I turned 18.”

When the girl told him she was looking for closure, Sharon became angry and told her he didn’t “have time for this.”

The defense argued that others in the home would have heard the physical abuse when it happened.

Daugustinis reminded jurors that other witnesses testified the television in the house was always on. People were always going in and out of the home, making a lot of noise and drowning out what was happening.

Assistant State Attorney Randi Daugustinis addresses jurors during closing arguments Thursday, showing them how the defendant choked his victim. Jurors deliberated less than two hours before finding Sharon guilty.

The victim testified during trial that she didn’t yell or scream to alert anyone because she was afraid of Sharon. And it wasn’t until she was older that she found the strength to start fighting back.

Sharon testified in court Thursday, telling the jury that he never touched the girl in a sexual manner and that they had never been alone together.

But he also told jurors that when law enforcement interviewed him about the incidents, he believed that they would let him go back to work if he said they were just kids and were messing around.

The defense admitted Sharon changed his statements to detectives, claiming that he believed admitting he was messing around was “the lesser of two bad outcomes.”

But Daugustinis argued that the reason Sharon couldn’t keep his story straight when he was questioned was an indication of his consciousness of guilt.

“He (Sharon) blames everyone else. Then he said he couldn’t remember. Then he admitted to touching her,” Daugustinis said, referring to his statement to detectives. “When she confronted him for closure on the controlled call, he said he didn’t remember. An innocent person doesn’t say that he simply doesn’t remember.”