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Girl's story of sex abuse leads to arrest

Sheriff's detectives arrest a 64-year-old man accused of abusing the girl from age 3 to 10. He is being held without bail.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published January 28, 2005

LAND O'LAKES - The sexual abuse started when she was 3 years old, the victim told authorities, and lasted until a month before her 10th birthday.

Pasco County sheriff's detectives listened in on phone calls when the man she accused of assaulting her apologized "for hurting her," according to a report, and told her "that anything he ever did to her was done because of love."

Then he wanted to meet the girl: Wednesday, about 5 p.m., at the Land O'Lakes Branch Library.

Detectives were waiting.

Dennis Jay Casbourne, 64, was arrested on a charge of capital sexual battery and booked into the Pasco County jail, where he is being held without bail. "I would be a fool to (answer questions)," Casbourne told detectives, the report said, after being read his rights.

The identity of the victim, now 11, is being withheld because of the nature of the allegations. Authorities did not disclose the relationship of the victim and Casbourne.

Casbourne suggested the library at 2818 Collier Parkway as a meeting place, said sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin.

"Prior to the time that was set, detectives were in the building and in the parking lot," Tobin said, "to secure the safety of the patrons of the library."

The victim was not present, Tobin said, and detectives don't think the suspect used the library to target anyone else.

Casbourne, who lists his address as Brandon and keeps a post office box in Land O'Lakes, is accused of assaulting the victim in residences in Dade City and Land O'Lakes. His arrest report said he works at Ikon Office Solutions in Tampa, and according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records, he has no criminal history in the state.

The victim told detectives that her trouble with Casbourne began when she was 3 and he inappropriately touched her. The report said Casbourne later performed oral sex on the child. Between ages 4 and 5, the victim said, Casbourne forced her to perform oral sex on him, and that such activities went on "for years."

When she was 8, the report said, "he forced himself on her." The two had intercourse while they were watching TV, the victim told detectives. She said they had intercourse "a lot," more than five times, she told detectives.

The girl said Casbourne told her not to tell anybody, according to the report, or he would go to jail.

A medical exam confirmed the victim had been penetrated, the report said.

Detectives posed as the victim's online alias, Tobin said, exchanging messages with Casbourne. They also began "controlled" phone calls with the victim calling Casbourne while detectives listened in, the report said.

[Last modified January 28, 2005, 00:21:17]