INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 67-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl multiple times with a screwdriver has been released from jail on $50,000 bond.
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office arrested Horace Lanette Dean, of the 8700 block of 100th Court, Vero Beach (just south of County Road 512 east of Interstate 95) on Sept. 24 after investigators were alerted by staff at the Indian River Medical Center a week before.
According to the arrest report, the following is what the Sheriff’s Office said happened:
Investigators were called out the hospital in response to the possible sexual abuse of the 4-year-old girl. The girl had told her mother, who was not identified, that “Papa” Horace Dean had touched her inappropriately with a screwdriver on eight different occasions.
When the child’s mother called Dean to confront him about the girl’s statements, he denied owning a screwdriver.
The child suffered from bleeding and itching, which the mother thought initially was a urinary tract infection.
Medical officials at the hospital determined that the child did not have an infection and instead had been sexually assaulted.
During a controlled phone call, Dean denied any involvement.
The relationship between Dean and the child was not released by the Sheriff’s Office in an effort to keep the child’s identity secure.
Dean faces one charge of felony capital sexual battery.