LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Richard Michael Hutcheson, 38, of Mount Dora, was found guilty of Capital Sexual Battery upon a child and other related charges. Jurors reached the verdict after only an hour of deliberations following the trial.
Judge James R. Baxley sentenced Hutcheson to life in prison.
Hutcheson was convicted of a range of serious offenses, including:
- Capital Sexual Battery upon a Child under 12 Years of Age
- Giving Obscene Material to a Minor
- Two counts of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation
- Sexual Battery in Familial or Custodial Authority
- Delivery of Cannabis to a Minor
- Contributing to the Delinquency of a Child
- Lewd or Lascivious Exhibition
- Lewd or Lascivious Conduct
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Hutcheson and his co-defendant, Brittany Hastings Hutcheson, were arrested in December 2021 following an investigation by the Mount Dora Police Department (MDPD) into a past sexual battery incident. The case began when a complainant reported to officers that a young child had disclosed sexual abuse committed by Hutcheson and his co-defendant. Officials investigating the report discovered a second, even younger potential victim.
The first victim, 14 years old at the time of disclosure, told law enforcement that Hutcheson had begun sexually abusing them approximately two years prior. The victim described numerous incidents involving Hutcheson alone, as well as instances involving the co-defendant.
Both victims were interviewed at the Lake-Sumter Children’s Advocacy Center. The first victim provided consistent information and detailed incidents of abuse occurring with the second victim present. The second victim, 11 years old, revealed to detectives that Hutcheson had also sexually abused them, with abuse dating back to when they were 7 years old. The second victim also stated that the co-defendant sometimes participated in sexual activity with the minor.
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Based on the victims’ accounts and corroborating evidence, both Hutcheson and the co-defendant were arrested. Co-defendant Brittany Hutcheson pled in her case last year and was found guilty.
Assistant State Attorneys Kati Cosden and Eduardo Faria successfully prosecuted the case, with contributions from MDPD Detectives Hutcheson (no relation) and Rice, and Deputy Faulkner.
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