Photo: Brevard County Sheriff
Willie Fred Shorter, 58, was taken into custody Wednesday on a charge of committing lewd and lascivious battery on a disabled person.
“It is a really tough case,” Rockledge Deputy Chief Donna Seyferth tells PEOPLE. “It is almost hard to find words when you have a case like this. Your first initial reaction is your heart really goes out to the victim and family. It just does.”
Seyferth says the facility found out she was pregnant in January 2015 and alerted the police.
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Seyferth says the victim initially provided them with three names of potential fathers, which included Shorter but he denied the allegations and refused to provide a DNA sample.
“At the time of the initial investigation, there was not enough evidence to obtain DNA from [Shorter], and that when he was questioned, denied the allegations,” the affidavit says.
In April 2018, Shorter did provide a DNA sample after the woman reported that he had touched her genitals.
“We request it and he denied it of course,” says Seyferth. “So we said, ‘you can clear yourself if you want to give us DNA.’ He voluntarily gave the investigator DNA and we got the results back and here we are.”
Police received the DNA results on Wednesday and Shorter was arrested at one of the facilities’ group homes, according toFlorida Today.
Bridges president and CEO David Cooke toldFlorida Todaythat Shorter remained a staff member even after the initial investigation “because he was not charged with anything, but we decided he should not work at the same home.”
Cooke says Shorter is no longer employed with the facility.
“We’ve been in Brevard for 62 years serving people with disabilities,” he said. “We are absolutely devastated. This is devastating for the client, for the family. It’s devastating for the staff who work so hard every day, working for our clients with significant disabilities.”
Cooke did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Shorter posted a $15,00 bond and was released Thursday. He could not be reached for comment.
source: people.com
