BRADFORD COUNTY, Fla. – A Bradford County man who fled the state after being charged with a child sex crime has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Michael Case, 37, was arrested and charged with sexual battery on a child over 12 and less than 18 years old, according to Bradford County Sheriff's Office Maj. Brad Smith.
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Smith said Case was in jail, but the processing of evidence was taking a long time, so the judge said he could be on house arrest with an ankle monitor pending evidence processing.
Case was scheduled to go before a judge in May for a plea agreement, but didn't show up and cut his ankle monitor off, according to Smith. Case, who was being sought on a failure to appear warrant, was found in June in Cortland County, New York, after an anonymous tip led deputies to find him walking alongside the road. He surrendered without incident, deputies said.
According to the Bradford County Sheriff's Office, Case said he had been staying in a tent at a wooded campsite several miles away from where he was found walking.
On Tuesday, Judge W.E. Davis sentenced Case to 15 years in Florida State Prison, and ordered he have no contact with the victim. He is also prohibited from unsupervised contact with minors after his release.
Case is now listed as a registered sex offender.