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DUANE BOURNEHis 11- and 13-year-old report more than a year of sexual abuse. The man was separated from his wife, the daughters' mother, since April.
SPRING HILL - A 32-year-old Spring Hill man was arrested after he was accused of molesting his two daughters for more than a year, authorities said.
The man, whose name is being withheld by the Times to protect the identity of his 11- and 13-year-old daughters, was arrested Thursday and charged with nine counts of sexual battery - a felony punishable by up to life in prison.
The man was being held at Hernando County Jail without bail Friday.
Authorities said the alleged incidents took place at the girls' Spring Hill home when their mother wasn't around or when they visited their father at his house, an arrest report stated. The couple had been separated since April and the man was allowed to see his children, the report said.
On one occasion, sometime after July 4, the younger daughter awoke to find her father lying on top of her, she told police. And when she questioned his actions, her father allegedly replied that he does "these things" to her because she looked like his wife, a sheriff's report stated.
The girls' mother notified the Sheriff's Office of the alleged abuse Aug. 19 after a relative found one of the girls crying in the bathroom at home, the report said.
According to a sheriff's report, both girls had tried to escape their father's abuse. They told investigators, however, that they stopped fighting the abuse because fighting seemed to prolong it.
When the father was taken to the Sheriff's Office for questioning, he denied having sexual contact with his daughters. However, he was arrested after detectives were able to corroborate the girls' statements made during interviews with the Hernando County Health Department, the report said.
- Duane Bourne can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to dbourne@sptimes.com