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Florida sheriff should say something about mishandled child rape case

The last time I wrote about Polk County, Florida, Sheriff Grady Judd (photo, left), I wasn’t complimentary. I noted that he “routinely goes on TV to pronounce suspects guilty before they’ve had a trial,” and he referred to “voters up north” as “stupid.” (See my posting here.)

His office blew a case of child sexual abuse in 2016. I mean blew it. After the girl, then 12, disclosed the abuse to a church pastor, who then called police and Judd’s office got involved, a detective working for Judd decided the girl was lying about her adoptive father, and charged her with the crime of lying to police.

The girl appeared in court without a lawyer. (Why? What was the judge thinking?) Her adoptive mother — the wife of the abuser — told her to plead guilty and get it over with. (Conflict of interest, anyone?) The judge sentenced her to a year’s probation.

And then the abuse continued. This time the girl, now 13, had the presence of mind to collect photos with a cellphone as evidence. Her abuser pleaded no contest, went to prison, and the criminal charge brought against the girl by Judd’s detective was expunged.

There’s no reason to believe Judd was personally involved in the case, or had knowledge of how it was handled. But this weekend it finally made news (see story here and video below), and here’s the deal:

“The Ledger asked the Polk County Sheriff’s Office about the training given to deputies on how to interview minors who may be victims of sexual abuse and whether the agency has changed any policies or training since Cadle’s arrest. The communications office did not respond to those questions. No one from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office ever apologized to Taylor or acknowledged any errors in investigating her initial complaint.”

Maybe the sheriff who loves to get in front of TV cameras and pronounce suspects guilty before they’re convicted in a court of law should at least say something? I’m not saying what happened to the girl is his fault. But it’s his job to tell the community his office made a mistake and explain what he’s going to do to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Where’s the press conference? Has the publicity this case is getting left him the publicity-loving sheriff speechless?

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