Wednesday (Aug 9), a Brevard County Jury found David DEAN (37) guilty of Sexual Battery By Use or Threat of a Deadly Weapon (LF), in connection to a sexual battery on a teenage victim on San Fillipo Drive SE, in Palm Bay in September of 2006.  

 

After a three-day trial presided over by Circuit Judge Charles Crawford, with evidence presented by Assistant State Attorneys Rebecca Price and Christine Babb, the jury deliberated approximately 30 minutes before returning with the guilty as charged verdict. Judge Crawford adjudicated DEAN guilty, and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

 

DEANS' conviction stemmed from a 2017 re-examination of evidence originally gathered in 2006. At that time, the victim was 16 and told police she had been sleeping when an unknown male entered her bedroom through a window. After threatening her with a firearm, he sexually battered her. No suspect was identified or charged at the time, and the case went unsolved. 

 

In 2017, evidence gathered from the victim was submitted to FDLE as part of the statewide effort to examine all untested sexual battery kits in police custody. DNA tested was positively identified as belonging to DEAN, who was in state prison serving a sentence for sexually battering other victims. While DEAN denied having committed the crime, he suggested it may have been a consensual encounter that he didn't recall.

 

In a statement after the sentencing ASA Price thanked law enforcement for their hard work, and the jury for believing in the victim. "For more than sixteen years she [the victim] lived with the fear that her attacker might return. I'm so incredibly grateful that we were able deliver her justice, and the assurance that DEAN will never walk free again." Price added, "I believe DEAN will remember her now."