DeLAND -- A year-old was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison for raping a high-school freshman who was attacked after she stayed home sick from school one day last fall. Flores also will serve 40 years' probation after his release and be designated as a sex offender for life, Circuit Judge James R. Instead, Flores tried to deny the rape occurred as he had previously admitted. He pleaded guilty to sexual battery and armed burglary of a dwelling in the Sept. A second accusation that Flores raped another girl he was dating was dropped.
The now year-old victim sobbed on the witness stand as she listened in court to a call, in which she told dispatchers about the attack by a masked stranger who broke into the house, hid in her parents' bedroom and gagged her with orange duct tape before raping her.
She said he threatened her with a switchblade. I don't know what to do," the girl, whom the Sentinel is not identifying because she is the victim of a sexual assault, told the dispatcher. The girl told the judge she no longer feels safe being alone because Flores took her sense of security when he broke in through a window and hid in the home where she was alone.
She was washing dishes when she heard sounds from her parents' bedroom and went into the room thinking they had returned home. Instead, she was attacked. The girl's father said he was "thrilled" with the sentence but still angry at Flores, who did not apologize for the rape. Flores' attorney declined to comment about the sentence, of which Flores must serve at least 85 percent. The state had asked the judge for the maximum sentence.
Even though he was 16 when he committed the crime, a judge ruled he should be treated as an adult. Flores' family had asked for a lesser sentence than what was agreed to in the plea arrangement of 12 to 40 years. Flores could have faced life in prison if he had been convicted at trial.
