A survivor of child abuse is slamming the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office for not forcing her abuser to register as a sex offender. NBC6’s Christian Colón reports
With tears sliding down her face, surrounded by family, and with a tremble in her voice, 36-year-old Keisha Etienne stood in front of a Miami-Dade judge to urge the court to not accept a plea deal offered to her abuser.
“Instead of love, affection, and support, I was met by lies, manipulation, grooming, abuse and rape,” Etienne said during Tuesday’s hearing.
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Ninety-year-old Albert Bassett was charged in 2019 with three molestation charges and four child abuse-related charges.
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However, four years later, he accepted a plea deal offered by the state attorney’s office. In exchange for his guilty plea to the child abuse charges, the molestation sexual abuse-related charges would be dismissed.
Bassett was sentenced to 10 years’ probation, with the possibility of early termination.
The deal will not require him to register as a sexual offender.
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Etienne went into Tuesday’s hearing hoping Judge Alberto Millian denied the deal because her abuser would not have to register as an offender.
“The man who was supposed to and promised to be my daddy failed me. The state attorney's office failed me and you are my last hope for justice — please do not fail me,” Etienne said.
Bassett did not want to comment after his hearing.
“He accepts responsibility for those charges that are child abuse, not sexual abuse — and at this point, he is trying to move on with his life," his defense attorney Sabrina Puglisi said.
In response to the victim’s allegations about the state attorney’s office failing her, a spokesperson sent NBC6 a document that stated the victim and defendant had an ongoing emotional and financial relationship up until 2019 when the charges were filed.
Prosecutors said the defendant supported the victim through school, financed vehicles, and provided vacations for her.
State attorneys also state Bassett’s attorneys requested the deal to avoid a sexual offender registration because the 90-year-old would have the unintended consequence of moving from his residence.
“The reason this is important is because of the defendant’s advanced age (90 years old), his poor physical health and his wife’s poor physical health,” the state attorney memo stated.
