From the Palatka Daily News web archives -
Sex offender sentenced to 7 years
by
Published: Tuesday, July 6, 2004 10:31 AM EDT
Brad Buck
The Palatka Daily News
Tears streamed from the faces of both the victim's family and those of the accused as a circuit judge sentenced a young man Wednesday to seven years in prison followed by 10 years probation for molesting an 11-year-old girl last fall.
The father of the victim said his daughter would be traumatized for life by the actions of 20-year-old Chad Eugene Reynolds. "She's been violated in the worst way," the father said. "She's got to live with this for the rest of her life.
When she looks back on her childhood, she'll remember this. It's one of the worst crimes you can commit."
The father also said that he has been abused as a child and that he had consumed alcohol and drugs. "I've been down the same road. But that does not justify what he did." He asked the judge to sentence Reynolds to life in prison.
Assistant State Attorney Ralph Rowe asked Hedstrom to give Reynolds nine and a half years in prison. "This case has struck me like no other case in my 27 years of practicing law," said Assistant Public Defender John Stephenson. "Certainly, Mr. Reynolds doesn't think he has a right to do this. He doesn't."
Hedstrom asked Reynolds if he had anything to say before sentencing. Reynolds, who had been looking down at the floor during the hearing, turned around to the family and apologized. "If I could take it back, I would," he said.
Reynolds will also have to register as a sex offender under Hedstrom's ruling.
The charges stem from an incident at 11 p.m. Sept. 3, 2002, in which Putnam County sheriff's deputies say Reynolds crawled into a bedroom of an Interlachen home armed with a knife and allegedly committed a sex act on the girl, who was asleep, Lt. Gary Bowling of the sheriff's office said.
Another child was sleeping in the room, sheriff's reports show. When one of the children ran screaming into the parents' room, Reynolds escaped briefly, then was caught later by deputies, Bowling said.
Reynolds pleaded no contest in June to charges of lewd and lascivious
molestation, burglary of a dwelling while armed with a knife and petty theft, court records show.
Hedstrom warned Reynolds that he could have given him life in prison and that if he messes up during probation, he could very well wind up in prison for life.