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In the first case, charges were dropped. In the second, he was acquitted. This time, after hearing from the victim, a jury will decide.
By JIM ROSS
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 18, 2001
INVERNESS -- Patrick Foss has faced these kinds of criminal charges in the past. Once, prosecutors dropped the case. Another time, he won acquittal.
Tuesday evening, a jury was deciding what would happen this time around.
The state has accused Foss of having intercourse with and lewdly touching a 12-year-old girl several times during 1999.
Foss, 54, of Crystal River faces a lengthy prison sentence if found guilty.
A jury spent Tuesday in Circuit Judge Barbara Gurrola's courtroom listening to witnesses testify and lawyers argue. Deliberations were scheduled to begin Tuesday evening.
This was familiar territory for Foss.
In December 1989, prosecutors charged Foss with two counts of sexual battery on a child younger than 16. The reported victim was 15 at the time of the reported attacks, which was between April and May 1989.
Prosecutors dropped the charges before trial, citing inconsistencies in the girl's statements and her emotional problems, court records showed.
But prosecutors did proceed to trial on another case, this time accusing Foss of sexually battering a girl younger than 12. The reported victim was 9 when the incident occurred, which was 1984.
A jury found Foss not guilty in September 1990, the records showed.
In the current case, the jury heard from a girl who said Foss had or attempted to have intercourse with her on five occasions during encounters in his garage, at her home or in his truck. She also said he touched her or forced her to touch him four times.
The girl said this happened during summer 1999, when she was 12. Her mother and Foss' wife were best friends and the families often interacted. The girl said one attack happened when her mother left her at Foss' home before going to tend to other children attending a professional wrestling match.
Law officers arrested Foss in April 2000. Foss consented to an interview with Citrus County sheriff's official Ed Gough, a tape recording of which the jury heard.
"I'm sorry for what I did. I knew she was too young," Foss said on the tape, admitting to several sexual encounters with the girl.
During the trial, Foss testified in his own defense. He told the jury he lied when he confessed to Gough. He said Gough promised him he would face only psychiatric counseling in exchange for a confession -- a statement Gough denied making.
Defense lawyer Jim Cummins suggested Foss' wife, who wanted her husband out of the house, concocted the charges with the girl's mother.
Paul Norville, who was prosecuting the case, reminded the jury that the girl's story was consistent with what Foss said immediately after his arrest. Physical evidence, which the jury heard about, also showed that the girl had experienced sexual intercourse.
"The (defense) conspiracy theory is ridiculous," Norville said.