The molestation case against Joshua Lee Osborn will not be pursued, and he is released.
By RICHARD RAEKE
Published March 16, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - By Monday morning, Joshua Lee Osborn had spent 251 days in jail, unable to make his $50,000 bail. Osborn, charged with two counts of capital sexual battery and burglary, was looking at life in prison if convicted at trial this week.
An 8-year-old girl accused Osborn of sneaking into her house and molesting her in June 2003.
Osburn said he had mentally prepared himself to go before a jury.
His attorney, Robert Attridge Jr., was ready for trial. Then the State Attorney's Office backed down and announced it would pursue the case no further.
Attridge said the formal paperwork is pending.
Until then, Circuit Judge Daniel Diskey released Osburn on his own recognizance. Assistant State Attorney Michael Halkitis and State Attorney Bernie McCabe were unavailable for comment Monday.
The decision to drop the case comes as details emerge about his accuser. The girl, now 9, and her family have accused four men of sexually molesting her on four separate occasions.
Osborn proclaimed his innocence from the beginning.
"Knowing Pasco County, I figured they would wait until the last minute and drop it," Osborn said Monday evening.
Osborn, 20, of New Port Richey said he planned on leaving the area and moving north.
"I'm done with it," he said.
The state also has charged Robert Burd Jr. with lewd and lascivious conduct, which carries a 15-year prison sentence. He is out on $15,000 bail, awaiting trial.
According to the girl, Burd, 20, of Holiday molested her while staying in the family's home in Hudson in June 2002. The mother said in her deposition that the girl denied that the molestation had occurred until she threatened her daughter with a belt.
Burd's attorney John Trevena asked the state to drop the prosecution of his client in July.
"It is apparent from the deposition of (the mother) that the child was forced to implicate my client under the threat of physical violence," Trevena wrote to the State Attorney's Office.
Since then the girl has given inconsistent statements, Trevena said Friday. When asked about the alleged molestation in February, the girl said during a deposition that she couldn't remember what, if anything, Burd had done.
Trevena asked the court on Friday for permission to conduct a psychiatric evaluation on the girl.
The state asked for time to consider the motion. A new hearing date is set for April.
But Trevena said the state should drop its case before then.
"It will be interesting to see what happens with my client. If I have to go to that hearing in April, I will be very angry," he said.
"How can they continue the case against my client? It would look vindictive."
