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Man guilty a second time of molestation
By Times staff writer © St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2001 DADE CITY -- A 76-year-old man, already convicted of molesting a child in the 1970s, was convicted again Wednesday of molesting a Dade City girl in 1993. A jury deliberated nearly four hours before convicting Richard Leonard Florin Dankert of Dade City on two counts of handling or fondling a child under the age of 16. Dankert, who walks and stands with difficulty, wore headphones connected to an amplifier throughout the trial so he could hear testimony and the judge. Prosecutors said Dankert molested the 6-year-old girl while he was babysitting on several occasions in 1993. He was arrested after a neighbor found pictures of the child in various stages of undress at his home in 1997. He has been in a county jail since. A Pasco County detective later found in Dankert's home a box of photographs of naked women with pictures of children's faces glued to the photographs. Prosecutor Manny Garcia told the jury that the girl's mother, single and working two jobs at the time, had no choice but to trust Dankert. "She trusted Mr. Dankert with her child," he said. "As a result of that trust, what do we have? A child who has been violated. A child who has been molested." Appointed defense attorney Mark Ware argued there was no direct evidence that his client touched the girl. Even the photographs fell short of that proof, he said, because the pictures don't depict Dankert touching anyone. Without that direct evidence, the state fell short of its burden of proof, he said. "We've got smoke," Ware said. "But we need fire." The jury did not learn until after the verdict that Dankert had been convicted of sexual battery on a child, distributing pornographic pictures and soliciting a minor to engage in sexual activity. The 1977 sexual battery arrest, in Georgia, landed Dankert in prison. Circuit Judge Maynard Swanson said Dankert could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for Wednesday's conviction. The judge set sentencing for April 27.
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