Girl's Scare Could Close Child Law Loophole
Sonia Acevedo and her mother Barbara Guzman, right.
Corey Beckman/News Channel
Published: Nov 15, 2005
TAMPA - -- An 11-year-old girl who reported a man waving a wad of money at her to coax her into his pickup truck has inspired a bill that could strengthen the state's child protection laws.
Tampa police Capt. Sophia Teague on Monday unveiled Senate Bill 640, which state Sen. Les Miller, D-Tampa, agreed to sponsor. It proposes that anyone who lures or entices a child under 12 into a structure, dwelling or conveyance -- or attempts to do so -- commits a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison.
The bill has the support of Mayor Pam Iorio and the local nonprofit Child Protection Education of America Inc. Miller was traveling Monday and could not be reached. Depending on when Miller files the bill, it could go before a Senate committee before the end of the year, said Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon.
The abduction slaying of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford of Homosassa has made child protection issues a top priority, Lee said. "The devil's always in the details, but you have to commend the leadership at the Tampa Police Department for raising the issue," he said.
Current statutes apply only to those 18 and older who have been convicted of rape or committing a lewd or lascivious act on a child. Anyone with that history who lures or entices a child commits a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Police found the loophole Aug. 27, when 11-year-old Sonia Acevedo told them about a man who had approached her in a purple truck.
In an interview Monday, Sonia's mother, Barbara Guzman, 32, said she felt bad keeping Sonia at home while she did laundry, so she let her go to a grocery store four blocks away. "I said, 'Go get some chips, and come right back.' "
As Sonia rode home on her bicycle, the man spoke to her, a police report says.
"He blocked me and showed me a big stack of money with a rubber band around it," Sonia said Monday. "He said, 'Get in the car,' but he said it in Spanish."
Sonia told him to leave her alone. The man drove along slowly behind her.
"I was pretty scared. I was shaking while I was riding the bike," Sonia said.
As she reached her home on East Adalee Street, the man turned onto North Jefferson Street. Guzman called 911.
Police stopped a truck matching Sonia's description at North Central and East Lake avenues. The driver, from Dade City, had a .32-caliber pistol and ammunition, dollar bills on the seat and a "large amount of money" in his pocket, a police report says.
He had a permit for the weapon and had not touched Sonia. Officers were stymied and called Maj. George McNamara, the District 3 supervisor, for guidance.
"We went over 10 or 15 statutes, and none of them fit," McNamara said.
He ordered officers to confiscate the gun but was forced to release the man. The man told police that he had been shopping and was driving around "to kill time," a report says. McNamara did not believe him.
"I became enraged," he said. "How do we change this? It's not right for this child. It's certainly not right for any child."
He asked Teague, who wrote legislation that protects neighborhood watch groups from harassment, for help. She was glad to assist.
"We all know standing here today what was going to happen," Teague said. "It's happened before in this state. We can't let it happen again."
Guzman said she does not let her children go outside alone anymore. "The same way he did with my baby, he could do with somebody else," she said. "He didn't do nothing to my daughter, but he tried. To me, that's the crime."
