Monday, March 16, 2009

Bradford Sheriff's Employee Confesses To Sex With Child

WJXT-TV
updated 1 hour, 51 minutes ago

A Bradford County Sheriff's Office employee was arrested Saturday after detectives said he called them to his home and confessed to repeatedly having sex with a child.

Detectives said Howard Austin, 46, of Starke, admitted to having sexual relations with a juvenile for about eight years.

He was charged with sexual battery on a person under 12 years of age.

Austin, who worked in the information technology department of the sheriff's office, was fired immediately upon his arrest.

"It is devastating to hear of an innocent child being victimized in this manner," Sheriff Gordon Smith said in a statement.

Austin was booked into the Bradford County jail, but transferred to an undisclosed facility for security purposes.

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