LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – Prosecutors with the State Attorney’s Office recently scored a conviction and life sentence in one of the most despicable crimes that plague society today.
Miguel M. Ortiz, 56, was convicted of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child younger than 12 and showing the victim obscene material.
It is not clear from court records what relationship, if any Ortiz, had with his victim, or even the child’s age, but sickos frequently prey on their girlfriend’s children, relatives or friends’ kids.
Defendants’ attorneys have the right to confront their accusers in court, which traumatizes the child all over again.
One recent case sticks out in my mind. The little girl, dressed in her best church dress, was composed while describing the humiliating events, while waves of anger, grief and anxiety spread across her mother’s face.
Because of the added stress on children, prosecutors sometimes allow defendants to make a plea deal in exchange for a guilty plea instead of going to trial.
Offenders often “groom” their victims ahead of time. That explains the charge of exposing the child to pornography.
In 2018, Douglas McCall, the son of a long-ago former sheriff, was charged with the same offense, plus dozens of cases of possession of child porn.
The 60-year-old was sentenced to the minimum-mandatory sentence of 25 years in 2022. The child’s mother wanted a life sentence.
“We received a life sentence in that we have to live with this forever. We feel it’s only fair for him to receive the same.”
The girl, who was 10 when molested, said: “Because of the abuse, I have had trouble trusting adults,” she said in a written statement to the court.
The family victimized by Ortiz, at least, is left with the knowledge that he won’t be ruining the lives of any other children. In fact, he could now end up being somebody’s “bitch” in prison, which might be the best kind of punishment of all.