A Florida man’s admission landed him a felony conviction as he fessed up to his crime against a nine-year-old girl while applying to be a police officer.
In seeking to become a cop with the Apopka Police Department, now-26-year-old Stephen Roland Bodley is instead scheduled for a sentencing hearing. The path from career to conviction in Orange County, Florida last week dated back to 2021 when the man answered affirmatively on his application when asked if he’d ever “sexually assaulted anyone.”
In a press release issued by Florida State Attorney Andrew Bain of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, it was explained, “On June 16, 2021, Bodley was conducting a job interview at the Apopka Police Department for a position that he applied for as a sworn police officer. The certified voice stress analysis examiner performed a voice stress examination on Bodley.”
“During the examination, the examiner asked Bodley to expand on concerning answers he provided in a pre-test questionnaire,” detailed the release. “In it, Bodley described sexually abusing a child several years ago. He admitted the same when the examiner asked him to explain further.”
An Orange County jury found Stephen Bodley, 26, guilty of Sexual Battery on a Child after he openly admitted to it during a job interview for the Apopka Police Department.
Read more: https://t.co/Hl6zkPUVP1 pic.twitter.com/7urHcEKg1R
— SAO9Circuit (@SAO9Circuit) May 10, 2024
The affidavit filed by Apopka police in 2021 included a written statement from Bodley that described his actions with a girl when he was between 12- and 13-years-old and she was believed to be either nine- or 10-years-old.
“I would play sex games with [redacted] and she didn’t fully understand what was happening,” read the court document. When an officer asked the age of the victim, the then-applicant was said to have responded, “I can’t remember, but um, but what do you call it, yes, um, I used to um, play these little sexual games, like oral with my little [redacted] and I known she, she didn’t know fully what was going on, and I used to watch porn a lot, so I had like a little addiction when I was younger.”
Florida law has been routinely updated to broaden prosecutorial power against such offenses and specifically states regarding crimes committed after July 1, 2010, “If the offense is a violation of s. 794.011 (sexual battery) and victim is under 16 years of age at the time the offense was committed, a prosecution of the offense may be commenced at any time.”
The affidavit indicated multiple instances of sexual battery of the victim had occurred sometime between 2012 and 2016.
After his admission, detectives interviewed the victim and her mother leading to the man’s arrest. Despite repeated confirmation during the application process, during his trial testimony, Bodley had denied
“A reasonable teenager would know this behavior is unacceptable, which was supported during Defendant Bodley’s pre-test interview disclosure that he knew he was taking advantage of his [redacted] and that she did not or would not have understood what he was doing to her,” Apopka Police detailed in the affidavit.
On May 8, Bodley was found guilty of Sexual Battery on a Child Less than 12 by a Person Less than 18. His sentencing hearing was slated for June 24.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.