(As originally published, Sun, October 2nd 2022, 4:30 AM EDT)
LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — This sexual battery case goes back eight years, and ends on the very day the alleged victim spoke to a detective over the summer.
On the evening of July 13, the 21-year-old victim
“reported she has been engaged in a sexual relationship with [blacked out] 56-year-old [blacked out] Michael Owens, since she was 13 years old,” according to the arrest report.
The detective with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office wrote, “I asked [the victim] why we were here to which she replied, ‘I’ve been dealing with [blacked out] forcing himself on me since I was 13.’”
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She actually knew Michael “Mike” Owens since she was 11. The nature of the relationship was blacked out, but the victim and her family moved in with Mike at his home in Lake Worth.
He started with answering her questions but soon…
According to the report, “At 13, [the victim] asked Mike questions about sex and how sex worked. He started with answering her questions but soon he began to offer to have sex with her. She declined initially but as he continued to offer, she did acquiesce to having sex with Mike. [The victim] confirmed sex is [penetration].”
When she became homeschooled…
The report continued, “Mike also ‘groped’ her breasts with his hands. Mike continued to have sex with [the victim] but it was infrequent, when there was the opportunity. When she became homeschooled, she was 14 and the sex occurred six to eight times a month.”
The report goes into graphic detail before, “The last time they had sexual intercourse was the date of the interview, July 13, 2022.”
And it developed later to the point where it was legal. So it is what it is.
Then it continued, “During a conversation between [the victim] and Mike, Mike acknowledged their sexual relationship. When [the victim] mentioned it began when she was 13, Mike said he did not remember it beginning that early. But wanted to talk about the particulars in person as he was concerned with the conversation was [sic] being recorded. Later in the conversation, he said they began their relationship when she was 17, believing that was the age of consent. He said it was not incest because she was not his blood. Mike explained to [the victim], ‘I almost felt guilty a little bit. But you wanted it to be that so I left it keep going. You know what I’m saying. And it developed later to the point where it was legal. So it is what it is. That’s the way I remember. I don’t know all the details. I didn’t write them down. And but that’s the thing, so. Just stick with that, as far as.’”
The next day, the detective spoke to the victim’s mother who “told me she found out about the sexual relationship between her daughter [name] and [blacked out] Mike Owens yesterday, July 13, 2022.” The report said she’d been told and, “When confronted with the questions about her relationship with Mike, [the victim] admitted to having a sexual relationship with Mike since she was 13 years old.”
It was about her. It’s just about what she wanted and her needs and what she liked.
More details followed and then on Aug. 9, someone “confronted Mike during a telephone conversation about the circumstances of Mike’s relationship with [the victim]. Mike told [that person], ‘I’m telling you man, I can remember 18, so that’s the thing. That’s where it was, it might have, there might have been some thoughts about it before, but that’s where it was as far as I remember. That’s kind of like, it was always about her. It wasn’t about me. It was about her. It’s just about what she wanted and her needs and what she liked. And. Just things of that nature, whatever, I’m always trying to be a pleaser myself.’
“Mike continued to express concern to [someone] regarding an investigation into the allegations. He did not want to say anything to her on the phone but said he would answer her questions honestly in person; however, that in-person meeting never occurred.”
The detective wrote about meeting Owens at his home on Aug. 29, but Owens wouldn’t talk.
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Then, on Sept. 3, the detective got an unexplained final judgment signed by a judge back on Jan. 28, 2013.
Michael Owens was charged with lewd or lascivious battery of a child between 12 and 15, with lewd or lascivious molestation of a person 12 to 15, and with unlawful sexual activity with a minor 16-17. All are felonies.
Owens was booked on Sept. 21 at 1:34 p.m. Bond was set at $25,000 for each of the three charges. He is on in-house arrest. That is not considered released.
