Teh One Who Knocks
12-12-2012, 02:27 PM
By Marc Freeman, Sun Sentinel
http://i.imgur.com/KcrYr.jpg
Along some West Palm Beach streets, David B. Rose, 42, was affectionately known as the neighborhood "candy man" because he sold treats to local children from immigrant families.
But his friendly reputation changed after his February 2011 arrest on a charge of molesting a girl, 10, as she slept in her bed in late June 2010.
Rose, convicted by a jury on Aug. 31, was sentenced Tuesday to serve 45 years in a state prison. He had faced a minimum sentence of 25 years for the lewd or lascivious molestation offense.
"He had complete disregard for a 10-year-old child," said prosecutor Chrichet Mixon, who asked Judge Jeffrey Colbath to impose a life sentence on Rose for his "brazen" attack.
According to arrest records, the victim woke up to find Rose in her bed with his pants off, her underwear pulled down, and Rose touching her buttocks.
The victim's mother, speaking through a Spanish interpreter, asked the judge to show no mercy for Rose because he left the child traumatized.
Rose apologized for the crime, blaming it on an addiction to pornography.
"I was mentally sick," he said, adding he is not harmful and insisting he had been invited to the victim's house. "I have been cured. I don't believe I need any more time locked up."
Rose also spoke of his years of humanitarian work in Guatemala, where his wife and two children live.
Defense attorney Mallorye Cunningham argued for a 25-year sentence, with credit for time already served, as "far more than sufficient."
But Colbath called Rose a "very dangerous person" who is the "most heinous kind" of sexual predator, accusing Rose of using his church outreach work as a ruse to get close to children.
Colbath also imposed lifetime probation for Rose with orders to stay away from children when he is released.
Rose then warned the judge, "You're responsible if I get murdered" in prison.
Colbath responded he would have "no problem putting my head on my pillow at night."
http://i.imgur.com/KcrYr.jpg
Along some West Palm Beach streets, David B. Rose, 42, was affectionately known as the neighborhood "candy man" because he sold treats to local children from immigrant families.
But his friendly reputation changed after his February 2011 arrest on a charge of molesting a girl, 10, as she slept in her bed in late June 2010.
Rose, convicted by a jury on Aug. 31, was sentenced Tuesday to serve 45 years in a state prison. He had faced a minimum sentence of 25 years for the lewd or lascivious molestation offense.
"He had complete disregard for a 10-year-old child," said prosecutor Chrichet Mixon, who asked Judge Jeffrey Colbath to impose a life sentence on Rose for his "brazen" attack.
According to arrest records, the victim woke up to find Rose in her bed with his pants off, her underwear pulled down, and Rose touching her buttocks.
The victim's mother, speaking through a Spanish interpreter, asked the judge to show no mercy for Rose because he left the child traumatized.
Rose apologized for the crime, blaming it on an addiction to pornography.
"I was mentally sick," he said, adding he is not harmful and insisting he had been invited to the victim's house. "I have been cured. I don't believe I need any more time locked up."
Rose also spoke of his years of humanitarian work in Guatemala, where his wife and two children live.
Defense attorney Mallorye Cunningham argued for a 25-year sentence, with credit for time already served, as "far more than sufficient."
But Colbath called Rose a "very dangerous person" who is the "most heinous kind" of sexual predator, accusing Rose of using his church outreach work as a ruse to get close to children.
Colbath also imposed lifetime probation for Rose with orders to stay away from children when he is released.
Rose then warned the judge, "You're responsible if I get murdered" in prison.
Colbath responded he would have "no problem putting my head on my pillow at night."