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Prosecutors want to send sex offender back to prison
State prosecutors want a sex offender to go back to prison, arguing before a judge that he reconsider his decision to release Mark Fuglar on bond. He is out on bond after being released in mid-September, while he appealed the case.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - A Volusia County judge on Thursday heard arguments from both sides at a bond hearing for Mark Fuglar.
Back in August, Fuglar was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted of sex crimes on a minor. The 61-year-old was released on bond in mid-September while he appealed the case, a decision that angered some in the community. The state argued before Senior Judge R. Michael Hutcheson that Fuglar should be considered a flight risk.
"He has the ultimate temptation to remove himself from the jurisdiction of this court," prosecutors said.
A bigger temptation, the state claimed following his conviction.
"He’s staring down the barrel of fifteen years in prison, a substantial portion of his life," prosecutors said.
The defense said Fuglar has been obedient to release conditions, adding he is under even closer watch.
"He’s being supervised by two agencies. The [Volusia County] Sheriff’s Office and the court by pretrial services," the defense told the judge. "He’s not going anywhere judge, he’s not a flight risk."
The defense also argued the court legally can't revoke bond because there have been no changes in the case.
"So even if your Honor wanted to do something, respectfully your Honor can’t, according to law," Fuglar's attorney argued.
However, the state said the opposite.
"I think that there’s more than enough authority to give the court the ability to reconsider," prosecutors said.
As the hearing wrapped up, the victim's mother read a letter to the judge, asking him to revoke his bond.
“He has yet to show remorse for the little girl who he emotionally dismantled, and the mother that feels the pain of this every day," she said.