On July 21, 2023, Circuit Court Judge Clifton Drake sentenced Michael George Rasmussen of Jay to life in Florida’s Department of Corrections for Sexual Battery (Victim less than 12 Years, Defendant over 18 years).
On the January 23, 2020, law enforcement took a report of Sexual Battery on a juvenile. The 8-year-old victim was left in the care of her stepfather while her mother worked. After a day at the beach the Defendant (stepfather) carried the victim from the car and placed her on a bed. The Defendant moved the bottom part of her bathing suit to the side, and placed two fingers into the victim’s vagina.
On July 21, 2023, after deliberating for twenty-three minutes the Defendant was found guilty by a jury of his peers.
The arrest and investigation were conducted by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant State Attorney Stephanie Pace prosecuted the case on behalf of Ginger Bowden Madden, State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida. For more information, please contact Ms. Pace (850) 983-4453.
