Affidavit: Sarasota girl sexually molested by father, forced to urinate in bucket

SARASOTA, Fla. (FOX 13) - A Sarasota man is accused of molesting his daughter for over year, and deputies are still searching for him.

On Thursday, investigators with the Department of Children and Families interviewed the child, whose age and identity were not disclosed. Deputies said she told them she was molested and sexually battered by her father, 43-year-old Dwight Bainbridge.

Detectives with Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for the child’s home, located in the 8400 block of Webber Road in Sarasota. When detectives searched the home, they found the victim’s bedroom had a padlock located on the outside of the door.

Inside the bedroom, they found a bed with “limited bedding” and a bucket filled with urine. Detectives said the victim told them she lived at the home for a year and a half with her father, his girlfriend, Jessica Brambilla, her 20-year-old son William Land, and four other children.

Detectives said after the child moved in, Bainbridge and Brambilla locked her in her bedroom because they believed she would “bring boys to the house,” according to Brambilla’s arrest affidavit. 

Bainbridge, Brambilla and Land took turns letting the child out of her bedroom twice a day to use the bathroom and give her food, detectives learned. They eventually placed a bucket in her room after she urinated on the floor, they said.

The child was allowed to eat twice a day, officials said, and her meals included plain oatmeal, two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, two cups of water, and multivitamins. They said she was home-schooled while she lived there, but, as punishment, even that was taken away from her. The longest her school privileges were halted was four months. 

Recently, she was also confined to her bedroom for 24 hours a day, and was only allowed to bathe once a week, deputies said. The child was described as “malnourished, pale, dirty, and her dental hygiene was very poor,” one sergeant described.

Detectives said Brambilla admitted to locking the child in the bedroom, and restricted her bathroom privileges. She said she is not the mother’s child and “caging” her was Bainbridge’s idea. 

“Therefore, she saw no problem with how they were treating” the victim, according to Brambilla’s affidavit. Officials said Land also confirmed the statements she made.

Brambilla was arrested for aggravated child abuse. It's unclear whether Brambilla was aware of the alleged sexual battery and molestation. 

Deputies said Bainbridge’s location is unknown, but have not provided a photo or physical description of him.