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Sentence for child abuse puzzles parents

The timing and brevity of a man's sentence leave two families looking for answers.

By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published February 27, 2005

	[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer]
	The view through this window looks onto Charles Richard Heritage's home in Port Richey's Gulf Highlands neighborhood, where he was known as "Rick." He'd moved in about three years before, introducing himself as a retired police officer from Indiana. He showed them his badge and talked about his involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters.

NEW PORT RICHEY - She knew Feb. 18 would be tough.

She and her two young sons had been summoned to court to face the man accused of molesting the boys, plus three others in their Port Richey neighborhood. Charles Richard Heritage had decided to plead no contest to the charges, thereby avoiding a trial.

The mother and her boys arrived at 9 a.m. and waited nervously to tell a judge of the pain Heritage had brought their family.

They never got the chance.

First, a prosecutor delivered upsetting news: Heritage already had been sentenced, the previous day. The State Attorney's Office had failed to notify the victims of the schedule change.

Worse, she felt, were the terms of Heritage's punishment. She knew he had been convicted in the mid-70s for sodomizing a child. Now, there were five more victims and he faced up to 50 years in prison.

He got five.

"I don't trust my kids with nobody," she said of Heritage, "but I trusted him."

The Times is not identifying the parents in this story to protect the identity of the children who were victims in the case.

Neighbors in Gulf Highlands knew Heritage as "Rick." He'd moved in about three years before, introducing himself as a retired cop from Indiana. He showed them his badge, told them of his involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters and introduced them to people he said were his son and granddaughter.

The boys' mother said Heritage even showed her how to search the Internet for local pedophiles, after she expressed concern about the child molestation charges against pop star Michael Jackson.

"He seemed like he was genuinely caring," she said.

That changed last April. It was Easter vacation, and four neighborhood boys were supposed to spend the night at her house. Heritage, 56 at the time, offered to take the boys out for pizza and video games. She agreed.

When the boys wanted to watch a movie on Heritage's new big-screen TV, she okayed that, too. Heritage lived nearby. She could see his living room, and figured the boys would fall asleep on the floor.

Pasco County Sheriff's reports tell a different story. The four boys said Heritage took them into his computer room and showed them child pornography.

One boy fell asleep on the couch. According to the arrest report, Heritage pulled down the child's pants and underwear, rubbed lotion on his bottom and asked an 8-year-old boy to "hump" his friend.

All the boys witnessed the incident.

One of the boys told his father what had happened. That dad told the other parents, and they decided to call authorities. This incident and others emerged during the investigation.

Three boys, ages 9, 9 and 10, told detectives that Heritage had shown them pornographic images of children on his home computer several times between November 2003 and April 2004.

They didn't tell anyone at first, their parents said, because they worried about getting Heritage in trouble.

"He really suckered everybody in," the father said of the neighbor he once trusted.

Deputies charged Heritage with multiple counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and showing pornography to minors.

Prosecutor Eva Vergos, who has handled a number of similar cases, worried about proving the case to a jury.

Sex crimes can be among the hardest cases to prove, particularly when they involve children. Stories change. Inconsistencies emerge. Physical evidence can be lacking.

Authorities found adult pornography on Heritage's computer, but not child pornography, Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis said.

In depositions, the boys sometimes contradicted what they first told police.

Heritage did not confess. He acknowledged that the boys viewed pornography on his computer, but said they did so on their own.

So Vergos had a decision to make: Risk having Heritage acquitted by a jury and walking free, or agree to a sentence that called for just five years in prison, followed by 10 years of sexual predator probation. The latter option also avoided putting young children through a stressful and potentially humiliating trial.

Vergos opted for the bottom of the sentencing guidelines. She did not talk to the victims' families about her decision.

A state law created to give victims a voice in the process says she should have. The law gives victims, or their parents in the case of minors, the right to be heard in court concerning the impact of crime, prior to sentencing.

Vergos planned to talk to the victims before Heritage's sentencing on Feb. 18. Because of scheduling conflicts, Vergos and Assistant Public Defender Phil Cohen agreed to switch the hearing to Feb. 17 instead. But no one alerted the victims of the new date.

"Eva made an honest mistake," Halkitis said. "It's a screwup. She should have known better."

When the two families of the victims and their sons learned of the error, tears flowed. Then they got angry. They say now they might have understood the decision to accept a plea if someone had discussed the weaknesses of the case beforehand. Maybe they would have been okay if their sons at least got to face Heritage once more.

Without such provisions, Vergos' decision to agree to the plea was a bad one, Halkitis said.

"I think it was lousy, because the victims weren't consulted," he said. "They were, in fact, neglected, and we don't operate like that."

Sexual predators are subject to the strictest probation.

Because Heritage gets credit for time already served in jail, he'll actually spend only four years in prison. But he'll be required to serve the entire probation period, and with severe restrictions, said Assistant State Attorney Mary Handsel.

He'll face ongoing polygraph tests. He can't live near playgrounds or day care centers. He can't have contact with children under 18. He can't own or look at any sexually stimulating material.

And under the Jimmy Ryce Act, prosecutors said, there's a strong possibility Heritage could be held indefinitely for treatment.

"He may never get out," Halkitis said.

Such assurances mean little to the parents of Heritage's victims. And they weren't encouraged by prosecutors' belief that Heritage likely would violate the terms of his probation.

"At the cost of another child? That's what I'm upset about," the mom said.

Other local child molesters have gotten harsher sentences. Alfonso Morales, 54, of Holiday, received 25 years in prison and 15 years' probation for just two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation. In Tampa, 49-year-old Arnulfo Silva got 30 years in prison for the same two offenses. And New Port Richey resident Franklin Copus, 40, received 61/2 years in prison and five years of probation for a couple instances of lewd and lascivious conduct.

Some also have gotten more lenient sentences. In those cases, however, victims typically were uncooperative, Halkitis noted.

Heritage's sentence falls within the lawful guidelines, lawyers said. His previous conviction could not be factored into the length of his latest sentence because Heritage had not been charged with any new crimes in the 10 years after the sodomy incident.

In some cases, good reason might exist for less prison time, said Stetson University criminal law professor Robert Batey. Each case is different, he said, and a judge must consider all facts for sentencing.

"We're operating in an era of extreme sentencings . . . especially for sex crimes involving children," Batey said. "The expectation for long sentences is there."

But the fact that lawyers for the prosecution and defense both agreed this was an appropriate sentence is significant, he said.

"That's a powerful argument in its favor," he said.

Public defender Cohen, who defended Heritage, said the resolution was fair.

"It allows (Heritage) to get on with his life, and hopefully brings some closure to the children and their families."

At this point, nothing can change Heritage's sentence.

Still, after prosecutors realized the error in failing to notifying the victims' families, they immediately scheduled a hearing for March 1. So the families will get their opportunity to confront Heritage and talk to Circuit Judge Stanley Mills, who accepted the plea.

Part of them wonders, What's the point? Still, they'll go.

"I have a child that was affected by this for life," one boy's father said. "He's not going to outgrow that kind of memory."

Colleen Jenkins covers courts in west Pasco County. She can be reached at 727 869-6236, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. Her e-mail is cjenkins@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 27, 2005, 00:13:19]