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Couey told police he had a 'problem'

At the time of a 1991 conviction as a sex offender, John E. Couey said he couldn't control his attraction to children.

By RAGHURAM VADAREVU
Published March 23, 2005

INVERNESS - Accused in 1991 of exposing and fondling himself before a 5-year-old girl, John E. Couey told Kissimmee police he had touched at least one other child but had never been caught.

Couey told officers he knew he had a "problem" but hadn't sought medical help to "control his sexual attraction for young ... children," a police report said.

Couey was convicted and designated a sex offender. Now, 14 years later, he's accused of abducting, sexually assaulting and murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford of Homosassa.

The latest crime has attracted national attention and disgust. High-ranking Citrus County officials don't even hide their anger.

"If you are found guilty of this offense, sir, I am absolutely certain that your opportunity to satisfy your lust for power with the death of innocence will be ended," Citrus County Judge Mark Yerman told Couey during a brief hearing Tuesday.

Later in the day, an emotional Sheriff Jeff Dawsy told Citrus County commissioners, "I guarantee that that piece of trash will never hurt another child in this country or this county."

The audience at the meeting gave him a standing ovation.

Couey, 46, remains at the Citrus County jail. He is separated from the general population for his safety, a spokeswoman said. Yerman ordered that Couey be provided an attorney but declined to set bail.

A grand jury indictment may come within the next three weeks. Until then, authorities are holding Couey on charges of burglary with battery, kidnapping, sexual assault on a child younger than 12 and capital murder.

Jessica Lunsford was reported missing Feb. 24. An extensive search ended after detectives tracked down Couey in Georgia.

Investigators said he confessed Friday. The next day, crews digging at Couey's mobile home unearthed the body. The home was within eyesight of the home Jessica shared with her father and paternal grandparents.

Authorities say Couey entered the Lunsford home through an unlocked door, abducted the girl from her bed, brought her to his mobile home, then sexually assaulted and killed her. The cause of death was asphyxiation; the Sheriff's Office has declined to offer specifics.

Couey has 24 arrests on his record, including a 1978 Citrus case in which he burglarized a home, entered the bedroom of a girl, placed his hand over her mouth and kissed her, Dawsy said.

Couey was designated a sexual offender after a conviction for an attempted lewd act in the presence of the 5-year-old girl in Kissimmee.

About 7 p.m. on April 8, 1991, Couey exposed himself to the girl, who lived near his home, as they played together behind a house, a Kissimmee police report said.

He then fondled himself and got the girl to touch him "at least two times," the report said.

As the girl sat on his lap, her mother came outside her home, which was "within walking distance," to look for her daughter, Officer Ralph Herrera, a Kissimmee police spokesman, said during an interview Tuesday.

When the mother did not find her daughter at a neighbor's house, she roamed the street and called out her daughter's name, the report said.

Her daughter heard and came running from behind a house, the report said. Another neighbor, who later identified Couey, saw him run into a nearby house, it said. The girl's mother told police Couey had recently moved into the neighborhood.

Couey confessed later that night, police said.

During questioning, Couey also "admitted to molesting his wife's daughter," the report said. He added that his wife said she wouldn't report the incident involving her daughter if he left the house and they divorced.

Couey was sentenced to serve five years in prison, Herrera said.

In Citrus on Tuesday, many residents were stunned by revelations that authorities had lost track of where Couey lived - he had moved into his half-sister's home, about 100 yards from Jessica's - and that he had worked at two school construction jobs.

Two lawmakers now are proposing that sex offenders be required to wear tracking devices. In addition, Homosassa businessman Joseph Dawson and Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, are working on a petition that calls for 50-year prison sentences for sexual predators and the death penalty when a child is injured.

Dawson said late Tuesday that they have collected more than 10,000 signatures and hope to collect at least 100,000 before they submit the petition to lawmakers. They have a Web site, www.protectfloridachildren.com

Also Tuesday, School Board Chairwoman Pat Deutschman called for a district policy requiring criminal record checks on laborers at school construction sites. She said she was shocked that Couey had worked at Jessica's school, Homosassa Elementary.

Homosassa civic leaders, meanwhile, have called an April 9 public meeting where residents can discuss ways to make the community safer. Homosassa men are asked to wear black and camouflage in honor of Jessica and their own children.

A private funeral for Jessica will be Thursday, with family members and friends gathering Friday. A memorial service that is open to the public will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church, 7221 W Gulf to Lake Highway (State Road 44), in Lecanto.

Times staff writers Barbara Behrendt, Justin George, Jorge Sanchez and Abbie Vansickle contributed to this report.

To see a list of registered sexual offenders/predators, go to http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/ Also check sheriff's office Web sites.

[Last modified March 23, 2005, 06:45:57]