A man who drove a 15-year-old girl from Tallahassee, and then sexually assaulted her after he provided her with alcohol and methamphetamine, was found guilty of Lewd and Lascivious Battery Thursday.
State Attorney Larry Basford said Roger Dale Ledbetter Jr., 57, of Tallahassee, will be sentenced Nov. 3 by Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay who presided over the trial.
Prosecutor Morgan McAfee only needed two witnesses: the victim and lead investigator Carl Fondren of the BCSO. The victim testified the defendant got permission to take her to Panama City Beach in 2024. She said along the way they stopped and the defendant bought alcohol for mixed drinks, which they both drank.
RELATED: Follow us on Facebook for updates
RELATED: Bookmark our archive of Press Releases
She said the defendant also had some methamphetamine, which he used. He told her where it was and that she could try it if she wanted. He then showed her how to prepare and smoke it. Later that night he sexually assaulted her and the following day they returned to Tallahassee.
The victim said she did not report it immediately because she was ashamed.
“I didn’t know what people would think of me,” she testified. “I didn’t want to share my whole story with the adults around. I was unsure if it went to court, how it would work out.”
Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for the work put into the investigation that helped lead to a guilty verdict.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.