A man in jail on an unrelated charge has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing a young girl over a period of four years.
The man, Jon Eric Dowdy, whose address was listed as Florida Department of Corrections, allegedly began sexually abusing the girl when she was 4 years old and continued until she was 8, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
The girl told Sheriff’s Office officials Dowdy abused her about 12 times when they lived in Santa Rosa County, and about 15 times when they lived in Holt in Okaloosa County.
The girl is undergoing counseling at Gulf Coast Kids House and has told her mother she doesn’t want to sleep alone because “she has flashbacks of Dowdy (redacted) and all she can see is his Mohawk (Dowdy wore his hair in a Mohawk style) in the shadow,” the report indicated.
When questioned by lawmen, Dowdy described the girl as a “real good child,” the report said. He didn’t think she had seen his genitals and said he watched pornography online every day because he was not sexually active with the girl’s mother. He also denied having any prior allegations of a sexual nature made against him, which lawmen say is untrue, as he was the subject of an allegation made when he was 18.
The report noted Dowdy answered questions calmly and never became angry about the allegations being made against him.
After being read his Miranda Warning he chose not to speak to lawmen.
He is charged with sexual battery by a person over 18 years of age on a victim under 12 years of age, and sexual battery by a custodian over 18 years of age on a victim younger than 12.
His first court appearance will be May 18.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Man accused of sexually abusing young girl over four-year period