A judge sentenced a 26-year-old Panama City native to 18 years in prison Monday for sexually battering a 17-year-old at a small party in 2019, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Nathaniel Douglas Hicks, who was arrested in 2020 after an investigation by the US Coast Guard and Bay County Sheriff’s Office was found guilty as charged of Sexual Battery May 5. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark, who presided over the trial, handed down the sentence Monday. The judge also designated the defendant as a Sexual Predator.

Prosecutor Frank Sullivan presented evidence at trial proving the defendant sexually assaulted the victim at a get-together on May 18, 2019.  Sullivan called six witnesses, including one woman who testified that she was the victim of a similar attack by the defendant.

“The victim was a 17-year-old girl who just wanted to hang out with some friends and instead had the worst thing in the world happened to her,” Sullivan said. “The defendant showed in his statement to the Coast Guard and his testimony at trial that he will lie repeatedly to protect himself. He must be held accountable for all his actions.”

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The evidence showed the defendant knew the victim from high school and invited her – she had two friends with her – to a small gathering outside a beach residence. The victim testified the group hung around outside for a while before the defendant invited her inside. She said he took her into a bedroom and had sex with her against her will, pulling off her clothes and hitting her legs as she told him no and asked him to stop repeatedly.

Basford thanked the US Coast Guard and the Bay County Sheriffs Office for their work on the case and the evidence they gathered to bring it to a successful resolution.

For more information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or call 850-381-7454.