Gainesville man charged with inappropriately touching a minor at Jonesville haunted house
Staff report
NEWBERRY, Fla. – Lonnie Joe Ward, Jr., 47, was arrested last night and charged with lewd/lascivious behavior with a victim under the age of 16 after allegedly touching a girl inappropriately at a haunted house in Jonesville.
An Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the haunted house, where the victim reportedly said she was one of the “scare actors” in a haunted house last night and Ward was the last person to go through the haunted house. She said she was sitting in a chair and a second juvenile was standing behind her; when Ward entered the area, she said, he walked over to her, bent down, and touched her inappropriately over her clothes. She said he then grabbed her arm and held onto it for about 30 seconds, stared at her “in a bizarre manner,” then let go and left the area.
The juvenile standing behind the victim reportedly said he saw Ward touch the victim inappropriately while staring at her for about five seconds, then he grabbed her arm for about 30 seconds while continuing to stare at her. He said Ward then looked at him and tried to “play it off,” looking surprised, before leaving the area.
Post Miranda, Ward denied that he had touched anyone in the haunted house and said he had been looking for his son.
Ward has a 1996 felony conviction for uttering a forged instrument and a 2009 misdemeanor conviction for possession of drug equipment. Judge Adam Lee ordered him held without bail.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Let’s hope this guy gets punished more than the St. Patrick’s sickos
Gee, I didn’t see anywhere that he was convicted yet of anything to be punished for..Also, for the uninformed out there… Any conviction over 10 years old is not counted in a sentence..That is called, ” pointable offenses” anything out of that parameter can not be considered in a current arrest. Points = amount of time punishable. 12 points= 12 months. Etc. Please educate yourselves. Better to look a fool than open mouth and eliminate all doubt.
you’re in here defending pedophiles, that’s wild
DD..it wouldn’t matter if was murder, a charge does not mean it happened, and a court will decide. Not public opinion. What’s wild is you don’t know the law. Ignorance is not an excuse.Again…educate yourself before opening mouth. Simple Constitutional Law.
You’ve already convicted him. I thought it was innocent until proven guilty. Open your eyes before you open your mouth. Always two sides to every story.
Hopefully he will be convicted and punished, Sherlock. No sweet deal from the DA. Do the time.
Peabrain, I’m not a Sherlock, but am very versed in the law. Haters gonna hate, but, it just shows their ignorance.. The more down arrows I get, the more I know I’m hitting my target. Can hate the truth, but it doesn’t change it
The law in this country was designed by lawyers to help lawyers pay off law skool loans. That’s all. Stop electing lawyers like Biden and Kamala.
Jk you forgot your emojis. And you really need to educate yourself. The Constitution was written by the founding Fathers of this country, not to pay off loans. And most at the time were slave owners and Republican. So get your head out, and learn. An education is a terrible thing to waste. You won’t have a Constitution if Project 25 comes to fruition..So be careful what you wish for. If are going to comment, at least Google it and quit sounding like the uneducated person you are
Aren’t you old biddies supposed to be joyfully shaking your Harris-Walz signs by the side of the road somewhere? Democrats were the slave owners and the party of the klan. Republicans freed the slaves.
The Democratic Party was started in 1828.
The Republican Party was started in 1854.
According to your twisted logic, no one owned the slaves before 1828 so they must have been free. MAGA logic works!
Now you really just showed your MAGA Intelligence or lack of.The party’s weren’t created to get rid of slavery Gomer..But the civil war started because the North wanted to abolish it and the South didn’t, creating a divide in the nation. T. Jefferson owned slaves even tho he was Republican, many others did as well. Before 1828 slavery was not an issue. And after the war even tho illegal many slaves stayed because they are least had a place to live and eat. No one was hiring Blacks. If you want to all that really happened read a book called the Letter,
Not true. There were plenty southern politicians that opposed slavery. You’re history skills really suffer when you try and justify your self reflecting insults.
You are half right.. It was Thomas Jeffersons Republican- Democratic party who wrote the bill and Lincoln signed the 13th amendment Emancipation Proclamation. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves himself. It was the Northern states that wanted it. But the southern states weren’t Democratic as a whole. They just wanted slaves. The war was about slavery. Period. It wasn’t a political war. And now it is all reversed. The Rep. Are dominating the south and Dem. The North. And as I’ve said before I’m a independent, but totally anti- Trump on this one
You are wrong again
Mr. P-brain, I hear that BS from dim witted, ill educated, MAGAts all the time.
In 1964 Lyndon Johnson (a Democrat) passed the Equal Rights Ammendment. In protest, Southern Democrats abandoned the Democratic Party and became today’s Repugs.
So you see (perhaps) it was the pre 1964 southern Democrats (today’s Republicans) that were and are the racist slave owners.
Read a history book…unless you’ve banned it.
NT (maybe Not True) the founding fathers were not republican or democrats. The Constitution was created in the late 1780s and the democratic party was created in the 1820s and the republican party was created in the later 1800s. Only about of the delegates of the Constitution owned slaves. The exact dates can be found on the internet and yes people do look uneducated when they do not have their facts straight. Case and point YOU.
Its a bit ironic that there were never Republican slave owners nor was there a Republican party when our Constitution was ratified
The DA who dropped charges against the St. Patrick’s sickos is up for re-election in November. FYI
And his challenger is even a worse choice.
So is Trump..and he has 34 felony convictions and more to come. He is running only to stay out of prison..Anything else, Kathleen?
The District Attorney who dropped the charges against the St. Patrick’s sickos is up for re-election in November.
KathleeB, a DA only drops charges for simple reasons.
1. Not enough evidence to convict
2. The cops violated their rights.
3. A note; DA’s don’t like to drop charges because they are elected.And a higher conviction percentage helps tremendously. Being overturned by appellate court reflects badly, or having the trial judge giving a Directed verdict of acquittal.
DUH!!
You think slave owners were Republicans. Everything else you say is probably wrong, too.
Not true, in history there are politicians who sell their souls for a vote or worse money. This includes every party affiliation. Term limits need to be enacted to rid the government of career politicians. People who serves in single government roles such as senators, representatives, etc should not be allowed to serve any more than a couple of terms without up grading to a higher level.
If one claims to be educated on a subject and belittles those who disagree with them, it does not make one’s information or opinions valid. It just makes one a bully and a blowhard.
Not defending a person who hurts children BUT…I have known this person for decades. I do not believe this was in anyway nefarious. He is a drunk. Not even a “functioning alcoholic” but a severe alcoholic. The way I read this article seems like he was drunk (not surprised), it was dark & he tried to steady himself to see who this person is. That weird look & holding onto her for so long. I understand how things can appear & Lord knows, wrong is wrong. I do think this is an unfortunate misunderstanding.
I hope this is a wake up call to him to stop drinking.
I am surprise at no bail considering people with numerous violent felonies in their background get released ROR.
Don’t come for me in these comments. I am simply stating my thoughts, unpopular as they may be.
Was this the Corn maze? Always a concern out there. Everyone’s screaming. So if someone really needs help no one will know. Perfect place for guys like this.