Ocala courthouse: Prosecutors resolve three pending sex cases
Prosecutors this week resolved three pending sex crime cases.
Andrew Louis Boynton was adjudicated guilty when he pleaded no contest to sexual battery, according to court records.
Boynton was sentenced to an eight-year prison term, followed by seven years of probation. He can't have any contact with the victim and has been designated a sexual offender.
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Circuit Judge Lisa Herndon presided over the hearing, which was held on Thursday.
The 45-year-old man has three days of credit for time served.
In 2019, Boynton was taken into custody by sheriff's deputies and accused of forcing sex on a woman during a party.
Trial abandoned
Earlier in the week, lawyers preparing the case in State vs. Robert Morris Jones were scheduled to pick a jury. The charges against Jones were sexual battery on a person age 12 to 18, lewd/lascivious battery on a child older than 12 but less than 16, and driving while license suspended or revoked.
Before jury selection began, the state dropped the charges. The reason: Jones already had been sentenced to 40 years in prison as a violent career criminal. Prosecutors said the victims in the sex cases did not object to the charges being dropped.
Morris, 45, is at the Marion County Jail and is expected to be transferred to a prison soon.
In June, Circuit Judge Steven Rogers sentenced Jones to the lengthy prison term after a jury found him guilty of lewd or lascivious battery on a juvenile.
At the time of his sentencing, Jones had 983 days of credit for time already served at the Marion County Jail.
Defendant is deceased
The third case was abandoned after the state learned that the defendant, Sterling Wayne Patrick Sr., had died. He was charged with two counts each of sexual battery on a child younger than 12 and lewd, lascivious molestation of a child younger than 12.
Patrick, 59, was booked into the jail in late August 2020 and moved to the medical pod. He remained in the medical pod for his stay while at the jail, Sheriff's Office officials said. At one point, he was moved to the infirmary and from there went to the hospital three months ago. He never returned to the jail.
He was accused of molesting two girls.
Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: State resolves three pending sex cases
