NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – A Fernandina Beach man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by 20 years of sex offender probation following a plea deal and ruling by a Nassau County judge.
Prior to the plea deal, Bertram Way, 61, was facing life in prison if he went to trial and was found guilty on charges of capital sexual battery, sexual battery and molestation. Under the plea agreement, the charges were reduced to sexual battery by a custodian.
A year ago, the parent of a 12-year-old girl said they found inappropriate text messages on the girl’s phone from Way. When the messages were handed over to the police, an investigation led to a second -- and then a third person to come forward, all of whom said they were sexually assaulted.
Prior to the sentencing, Way was facing three counts of sexual battery -- one was a capital sex charge, which means if he went to trial and was found guilty, he could be sentenced to life in prison. He accepted a plea deal that allowed the charges to be reduced to custodial sexual battery.
Three of the victims were children. A father of one of the victims, who we are not identifying, felt the punishment should have been harsher.
“I was hoping for life, but we would have to take it to trial. And they didn’t want to put the victims back through all that again. So, we all came to that agreement,” he said.
In two of the cases, Way was considered a family friend, who relatives of the victims said was a youth pastor, so he was trusted around children. But when the prosecutor read the victim impact statement written by two of the victims who are still minors, they both stated Way violated that trust.
“I wish you never touched me. I wish I never trusted you. I wish I never met you. You made me feel as if I was trapped and couldn’t speak out to my family in fear you would hurt them or even me,” reads the first impact statement.
“You know what you did to me was wrong. Why did you touch me in places I didn’t want to be touched? What made you think you deserved five years? What made you think what you did to me was OK?” reads the second statement.
Once Way is released from prison and begins his 20 years of sex offender probation, he will not be able to live within 1,000 feet of a school, which means he legally could not reside in a home he owns because it’s across the street from an elementary school. Way is banned from the internet until he finishes a sex offender program and he will have to register as a sexual predator.
Judge Daniels made it clear that if Way didn’t adhere to the stipulations of his probation, he could be placed in a facility for sex offenders and remain there indefinitely.