Charge is dropped, but not restrictions

The man had been accused of touching a girl improperly during a flight.

By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published October 30, 2007

TAMPA - A federal judge ordered Monday that home detention and electronic monitoring remain for a man accused of inappropriately touching a young girl on an airplane, even though the charge against him was dropped.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Jenkins said Ronald Mays and his alleged victim both live in Pinellas County, geographically close enough that the judge was unwilling to grant his request to remove his curfew and home detention restrictions before his sentencing in January.

Mays, a Palm Harbor businessman, was found guilty in February of abusive sexual contact with a child while on an aircraft. But in June, U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday ordered a new trial. The judge said he should not have allowed prosecutors to discuss allegations that Mays tried to destroy child pornography stored on his computer.

"I've never ever looked at child pornography in my life," Mays said Monday after court.

He also maintains that he never touched the 8-year-old girl who accused him of placing his forearm against her chest during a Southwest Airlines flight on June 20, 2006.

"I never touched anybody," Mays said, "and some day it will come out."

Frank Louderback, Mays' attorney, argued that the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act no longer applies to Mays since the charge was dropped. Therefore, Louderback said, certain mandatory bail restrictions that the judge imposed should be lifted.

The Adam Walsh Act, signed by President Bush in 2006, strengthened federal penalties for crimes against children.

Earlier this month, Merryday dismissed the sexual abuse charge against Mays at the government's request.

Mays still faces sentencing on Jan. 7 for the one conviction that remains from his trial - a guilty verdict on obstruction of justice.

Kevin Graham can be reached at kgraham@sptimes.com or 813 226-3433.

[Last modified October 29, 2007, 23:37:06]