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Boy, 4, sexually attacked in yard

The child was in a neighbor's yard only minutes when he was assaulted, reports say. Police warn parents to teach their kids to be wary.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published April 23, 2005

LARGO - The 4-year-old boy was curious and wandered into a neighbor's back yard to watch a landscaper at work, authorities said.

Eric R. Musgrave, 37, of Clearwater was spreading mulch and chatted with boy, said Largo police Detective Tara Hansen. It was 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Shielded from the street by a fence, Musgrave grabbed the boy at the waist, pulled down his shorts and performed a sex act on him, arrest reports said. After a minute or two, the boy ran home, where an aunt was taking care of him.

"If you take your eyes off of your kid for a second, it can happen just this quick," Hansen said. "We have to remind our parents to teach their kids about strangers and be wary."

The boy reported the incident to his parents when they returned home from work, Hansen said.

Largo investigators called Musgrave, and he agreed to meet with them on Thursday, the detective said. Musgrave confessed to detectives, saying he only wanted to scare the boy, arrest reports said.

Hansen said she found no indication that Musgrave has assaulted children in the past.

Musgrave has been arrested three times before in Florida, records show. In 1986, he was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and later convicted.

He was arrested again in 1993 after being accused of possessing and manufacturing marijuana, records show. Then in 1998, he faced a charge of violating his probation.

Musgrave was being held without bail in Pinellas County Jail on Friday on charges of sexual battery and kidnapping.

"Anything can happen to anybody's kids. I don't care if you're a lawyer, doctor or a judge, but a lot of these incidents happen because of poor safety awareness," said Barbara Zeller, 39, a mother of two who lives in a neighborhood west of St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, not far from where the boy was assaulted.

Zeller could offer no surefire safeguard. "You just hope you put your kids in the right hands while you're away," she said.

Staff researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

[Last modified April 23, 2005, 00:54:19]