Youth charged as adult in rape cases

A 16-year-old Eastpoint youth has been charged as an adult in connection with two rapes that occurred in August and December of last year.

On Jan. 26, Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey ordered Leonard Green III to be held without bond in the Franklin County Jail on a charge of sexual battery, which in Florida is the equivalent of what is commonly termed rape.

Green, who made a first appearance Jan. 27 before County Judge Van Russell, is being housed separately from the adult offenders at the jail.

The judge also ruled that a $50,000 bond be set on a charge of burglary of a dwelling – person assaulted; and a $25,000 bond for a charge of battery on a person 65 years or older.

All three charges stem from an incident in the early morning hours of Aug. 14, 2011 at a home in Apalachicola. Investigators say Green broke in to the home and had sexual intercourse against the will of an elderly woman.

Green also faces two similar charges, sexual battery and burglary of a dwelling – person assaulted, for a Dec. 3, 2011 incident at the Carrabelle Cove apartments on a 59-year-old female victim.

Investigator Brett Johnson, with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, oversaw the detective work, beginning with DNA evidence collected at the Apalachicola crime scene.

Craig Kincaid, the Carrabelle deputy chief of police, handled the investigation of the Carrabelle crime scene, which also yielded DNA evidence, said Robin Myers, the assistant state attorney prosecuting the case.

The prosecutor said that based on evidence collected from the scene of the first assault, analysts with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were able to work up a DNA profile of the possible assailant.

Also, “the victims provided a general description of their assailant,” said Myers.

Based on this information, Johnson obtained a DNA sample from Green, as well as other individuals. Green is a sophomore at Franklin County High School, and a starting player on both the varsity football and basketball teams.

Myers said that on Jan. 5, Johnson met with Green at the school, and that he voluntarily agreed to provide the investigator with a DNA buccal swab, taken of cells from his cheek. Johnson’s request was handled in the presence of the school’s athletic director Josh Wright and instructor Carol Weyrich, said Myers, who noted that authorities had sufficient probable cause to seek a warrant to compel the DNA sample.

On Jan. 18, officials with FDLE notified Johnson that Green’s sample matched the DNA profile taken from evidence at both scenes, Myers said.

Johnson said he went to the school later that afternoon, and with the help of the school’s resource officers, Green was apprehended without incident.

Initially treated as a juvenile, Green was transported to the juvenile detention facility in Tallahassee. A week later, on Jan. 25, Green was charged as an adult in crimes stemming from the two incidents.

“Basically the statute gives us discretion to charge him as a adult,” based on the severity of the crime and circumstances, said Myers. “There are very few things I can think of more egregious than violating one’s home and body.

“Any way we look at it, there are no juvenile sanctions available to adequately punish the behavior he engaged in,” said the prosecutor, noting that if Green were to be tried, convicted and sentenced as a juvenile offender, the state would run out of jurisdiction in both detention and probation in five years, when he turned 21.

As it stands now, Green is facing a lengthy sentence on the charge of burglary of a dwelling-person assaulted, which for adults can carry a possible life sentence. “The Supreme Court has deemed that juvenile offender can’t be sentenced to life in prison without a meaningful opportunity for parole,” Myers said.

In addition, Green could receive up to 15 years in prison on the sexual battery charge, and up to five years on the charge of battery on a person 65 years or older, a third-degree felony.

Myers said he intends to file a petition with Dempsey to keep the names of the victims, and any identifying information, out of the public record. He also noted that if Green is convicted of these crimes as an adult, his lawyers could ask that he be sentenced as a youthful offender, which would allow for a much less severe sanction.

Myers said he did not believe there were any other suspects to be sought in the two incidents. Also, he said. “we have no evidence at this point to link him (Green) to any other crimes.”

Green is being represented by Kevin Steiger, the public defender who handles cases in Franklin County. An arraignment has been set for Feb. 14, at 10:30 a.m. before Dempsey.