PINELLAS PARK — A sexual predator who is accused of battering at least four children had permission to be around the victims and used money, games and toys to gain their trust, according to police.
Michael W. Shepard, 35, released from prison in December 2013 after serving the majority of a 15-year prison sentence for lewd and lascivious assault on a child, faces several new counts of capital sexual battery. Police have identified four victims — a 5-year-old girl and three boys between the ages of 8 and 10 — but believe there may be more. Shepard denied touching the children.
Investigators said the girl is believed to be the victim of one incident, while the boys were battered multiple times over a period of weeks or months. Shepard is not related to the children, according to police, but their parents apparently allowed them to be alone with him. He was convicted in June of 1999 of a sex crime that occurred the year before, state records show.
Shepard appears to have first made contact with the children in his apartment complex, according to police. At least one of them was Shepard's neighbor and was either related to or friends with the other victims, said Pinellas Park police Sgt. Adam Geissenberger.
On Saturday, Shepard was left in charge of five children as a de facto babysitter when their family had to leave suddenly, Geissenberger said. He inappropriately touched the 5-year-old girl that day, authorities said, and had sex with an 8-year-old boy.
Police began investigating those incidents, Geissenberger said, and soon uncovered a pattern of abuse.
Shepard drove the boys a short distance from his apartment on his scooter to a wooded area in the 3100 block of 71st Avenue N that he called "the hideout." There he kissed, touched and forced them to have sex, according to arrest affidavits.
He coerced them with a "dare" game, according to the affidavits, and at least once gave a child a PlayStation 3 game as a reward for sexual activity.
Unlike a sexual offender, a sexual predator is someone who is not only guilty of a previous sexual offense, but of one that was violent in nature, according to state law. They must register four times a year, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website. A search of the state's registry shows Shepard last registered Feb. 25 at the same address listed on his arrest affidavits, the apartment complex on Cedar Court.
There are no restrictions under Florida law that prohibit sexual predators from living in a certain area, but there are guidelines regarding how close they can come to places like parks and schools.
Shepard was not on probation at the time the latest alleged incidents, said Geissenberger.