Elderly Man Accused of Molesting Child
A trial date has been set for June for a 74-year-old man from Acreage who is accused of molesting a nine-year-old on more than one occasion. The accused, Dale Kipp, now claims that the police coerced him into making a false confession in 2013 when they arrested him for his crimes and is demanding his day in court.
According to the police, Mr. Kipp told the Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies that the girl “asked” him to perform sexual acts on her and also tried to have intercourse with her during the summers of 2011 and 2012 at his Acreage home west of West Palm Beach. In an affidavit, one detective noted that these incidents happened once in the living room of the home and once in the pool.
Mr. Kipp was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual assault on a person younger than 12 years old, and in court last week his defense attorney, Steven Sessa, said that the only deal prosecutors offered in the case was a 25-year prison sentence, equating to basically a life sentence for the elderly man. His attorney has tried twice to throw out Mr. Kipp’s videotaped statement to police confessing his crimes on the grounds that the detectives used unlawful interrogation tactics to get him to confess.
According to the defense attorney, the police hinted that they had DNA evidence linking him to the crime that they did not possess. In addition, the detectives told Mr. Kipp that it was alright to have sexual contact with the girl as long as he stopped short of intercourse. If Mr. Kipp goes to trial and is convicted, he faces a mandatory life sentence in prison.
Sexual Assault Civil Remedies
Florida law allows the victim of sexual assault to bring a civil lawsuit against the abuser in an effort to begin to compensate the victim for the harm that has been suffered. In this type of lawsuit, a victim of sexual assault can claim damages for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, mental anguish, and more that was caused by the attacker.
Under section 95.11 of the Florida Code, if the sexual assault happened to a person under the age of 16 years old, there is no statute of limitations and the lawsuit can be filed at any time. It is also important to know for victims that fear their attacker or that they will have to share their story publicly that Florida law exists to protect the identity of victims in court in addition to protecting certain personal information or private affairs.
Call a Florida Sexual Assault Attorney Today
If you or someone that you know has been victimized by a sexual predator in the West Palm Beach area, the experienced attorneys at Gary Roberts & Associates are here to help. Call us today for a consultation.
