The young teenager who sexually attacked a 91-year-old grandmother during a violent nocturnal attack was sentenced to 25 years in jail on Friday.
Jesse Stone, who was 14 when he committed the act and is now 15, was given 237 days of time served, and his sentence will be followed by 30 years of sex offender probation. All all, he will be an elderly man by the time he completes his term.
Prosecutors in Marion County, Florida, said Stone broke into the woman’s house while she was sleeping and attacked her. Detectives confront him about his DNA at the site, as seen in footage.
He pleaded guilty as an adult to one count of sexual assault by a person under the age of 18 on a victim over the age of 12, as well as burglary of a dwelling with battery.
During Friday’s hearing, the state highlighted the attack’s particularly vicious character. She also mentioned that the woman had previously been quite kind to Stone.
“This was a woman who only ever showed him loving kindness during his time living in the neighborhood with her,” prosecutor Katrina Self stated.
The woman had “considered the defendant to be a friend,” she explained.
During the attack, Stone covered the woman’s face with a pillow, preventing her from seeing him. He may have suffocated her, and he continued to detain her even after she fought back, Self claimed. The state also claimed Stone engaged with “sexual intent.”
“This was not him simply panicking,” Self said, adding that Stone’s actions were deliberate choices.
“His actions are egregious, and the victim in this case is lucky to be alive under these circumstances,” Judge Lisa Herndon said as she prepared to sentence Stone.
Defense attorney Jonathan Mills underlined the 15-year-old’s age and lack of past criminal record.
“His brain was nowhere near fully developed when this incident happened,” the attorney stated.
Mills described Stone as a teenager who was “addicted to pornography” and did not have a father figure. He insisted his client was sorry. The attorney stated that Stone was receptive to sex offender treatment based on his outstanding grades (As and Bs).
