Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Mother to face lesser charge in sex abuse case

By JAMAL THALJI
Published June 27, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - When a 7-year-old boy told his mother that neighbor Nicholas Quiles had molested him, authorities said, Quiles paid for her silence. The price: $600.

Then she was accused of letting it happen again.

Both Quiles and the mother were arrested in March and charged with capital sexual battery. Both faced a life sentence if convicted.

No longer. The mother is free on bail and faces as much as five years in prison if convicted of a reduced charge of aggravated child neglect.

It was a change that prosecutors discussed in court this month, and on Friday, the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office made it official.

Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis, division director of the west Pasco office, said prosecutors cannot prove that the mother knew her child would be molested again.

"We can't prove (the charge of) sexual battery to her because we can't prove she knew it was going to happen or did something to aid it happening," Halkitis said.

If the state hadn't amended the charge, Halkitis said, someone else would have.

"The judge probably would have reduced it himself if it came to trial," the prosecutor said.

The name of the 30-year-old mother of New Port Richey is being withheld by the St. Petersburg Times to protect the victim's identity. The boy's older sister and younger brother were not harmed, authorities said, and all of the children were removed from the mother's custody.

An anonymous tip led New Port Richey police to investigate the mother and Quiles. The boy was molested in February, authorities said. After the first incident, when money was allegedly exchanged, the mother called Quiles and asked him to watch the boy because she was late getting home from work. Authorities said that's when Quiles assaulted the boy again.

The boy told his 11-year-old sister what happened and later told the police. The mother also spoke to officers. Police found that they had probable cause to arrest both. Quiles was arrested March 27 and the mother the next day, on capital sexual battery charges.

"There is proof that she knew he was a child molester and let him go there," Halkitis said. "That's neglect. You don't let your child go to a known perpetrator of child abuse."

Quiles, 48, remained held without bail at the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes. Prosecutors filed an additional sexual battery charge against him in April, bringing the count up to three.

Both he and the mother pleaded not guilty to the charges.

--Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

[Last modified June 27, 2006, 07:07:16]