The famed civil rights leader writes to the case's prosecutor seeking to ensure due process and equal protection for the accused boy.
By RICHARD RAEKE
Published April 17, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Jesse Jackson was with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when the civil rights leader was assassinated. He has run for president, founded the Rainbow Coalition and negotiated the release of hostages and prisoners of war.
Now Jackson has taken an interest in the case of a 14-year-old boy, who is African-American, accused of groping a white classmate at Gulf Middle School.
Concerned about the case, the boy's uncle called Jackson, who then wrote to Assistant State Attorney Michael Halkitis.
"While we have every respect for the rights of the alleged victim in this matter," Jackson wrote, "it is important to assure that young people who face criminal accusations arising out of school disciplinary problems are treated with the care warranted by their tender years."
A New Port Richey police officer arrested the boy March 30 on charges of lewd and lascivious conduct. According to the arrest report, the girl said the boy sexually groped her in a classroom on March 26. The boy reached up her shirt and when she told him to stop, he pulled her onto his lap and reached down her pants, the girl told police.
The boy's name is being withheld by the Times because of his age. He was held in custody by the Department of Juvenile Justice until attorney Keith Hammond contested his detention on April 8. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Michael Andrews ordered house arrest for the boy. He is to have no contact with the girl or her family.
But last week, his family came in contact with the girl's family as they went to collect his books and belongings at Gulf Middle School. Both families were in court Thursday afternoon as Halkitis asked Andrews to extend the no contact order to the parents.
The girl's family said the defendant's mother confronted them at the school.
"You should be in jail and I'll see that you are," she allegedly said to the girl, adding "I'm praying for you."
The mother denied the allegation, but admitted to saying, "I'm praying for you."
The boy's family and friends have posted "Pray for (the boy)," signs in the community. The girl's family claims an inordinate number of the signs are posted near their home and places of work.
Andrews said that although he could not order that the signs be taken down, he asked the boy's family to agree not to put them up around the girl's home.
The two teenagers involved have a history, involving pranks. In October, the girl offered the boy and 20 other students brownies laced with laxative, causing them to become sick. The New Port Richey Police Department arrested the girl and a friend on charges of disruption of a school.
On Friday, the boy's father said the latest allegations might stem from that incident.
"It just doesn't make any sense," he said. "It really doesn't."
Jackson wrote to Halkitis that he'll be watching.
"We expect to follow this case closely, as we do many others to satisfy our concerned members that due process and equal protection prevail."
- Richard Raeke covers courts in west Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. His e-mail address is rraeke@sptimes.com
