PANAMA CITY — A sex offender whose release drew complaints from law enforcement has again been released after a Bay County judge found he did not violate the terms of his probation.
Horace Monroe Wood, 45, argued Monday during a violation of probation hearing that authorities excessively monitored his activities following his conditional release. Wood had pleaded no contest to one count of child molestation in October and was taken back into custody eight days later when he failed to carry an electronic monitoring device with him on an outing.
Family members of Wood’s alleged victims hoped for a sentence of life in prison at the end of Monday’s hearing. However, Wood was released after Circuit Judge James Fensom said the court could not find a substantial legal reason to keep Wood in custody. Family members of the victims stormed out the courtroom following the ruling.
“It’s ridiculous that people who do less can end up in prison, but if you molest a child you can be set free,” said Karen Wesley, mother of one of Wood’s alleged victims. “It’s not right.”
Fensom said the decision was due to probationers experiencing a “period of adjustment” after they are released.
“It is not uncommon to make a mistake within the first week of probation,” Fensom said. “The court cannot find there is any type of substantial violation.”
Wood was released under the Jessica Lunsford Act the day he was supposed to go to trial at the end of October, although he was accused of sexual battery by four under-age victims. He pleaded no contest to one count of lewd and lascivious molestation and was sentenced to three years of probation.
Following Wood’s release, Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen criticized the handling of the case and lack of punishment, stating in a letter to State Attorney Glenn Hess that Wood had “not been held accountable.”
Days later, Wood was arrested for allegedly violating his probation by separating himself from his monitoring device for about two hours. During his short-lived release, Wood complained of excessive monitoring from authorities.
“Deputies came by sometimes four times a night, beating on my door and asking for ID,” Wood said during the hearing. “One officer said he had explicit instructions from (McKeithen) to check on me every two hours.”
Wood said the visits contributed to his misplacement of the monitoring device.
McKeithen has denied officers paid Wood special attention because of the nature of his release.
Prosecutors argued simply that Wood understood the rules of his release, yet he violated them anyway.
“The only thing getting between Wood and the Department of Corrections were the rules he signed and appeared to understand,” said Christa Diviney, assistant state attorney. “For the safety of the community, that was something that needed to be maintained.”
However, Fensom found that the circumstances surrounding Wood’s apprehension did not amount to a substantial probation violation. The terms of Wood’s release were reinstated. If those terms are violated in three years, he could face 15 years in prison.