Elderly Man Dodges Felony Conviction in Child Abuse Case, Sentenced to One Year of Probation

Editor’s Notes: Pampo’s arrest report and a court motion have conflicting information about his age, however, his arrest report includes his birthday and states he is 73, which is most likely correct.

Judge James Colaw accepted a plea deal from Sidney Pampo, 73, Tuesday in his child abuse case, withholding a felony adjudication but sentencing him to one year of probation. 

Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Pampo on February 12 and charged him with child abuse without great bodily harm. 

The victim, 17, told police that Pampo started an argument with her on February 7 because she had her boyfriend over. The victim noted that Pampo is “jealous” of the boyfriend and is “usually unkind to him for no reason.” 

Pampo demanded the victim’s boyfriend leave the house, and he reportedly was already in the process of exiting. Pampo told the boyfriend he was going to call his parents, grabbed a piece of paper with his mom's number, walked to his car outside and got inside. The victim followed and attempted to take the piece of paper from Pampo, who stretched his arm further away from her to the passenger side of the vehicle. The victim reached further into the vehicle to attempt to grab the paper, and Pampo bit her forearm.

When deputies interviewed the victim, five days after the incident, she still had deep bruising on her forearm, turning a shade of green and purple with a visible scab.

Following his detainment, Pampo told deputies he wasn’t holding the paper but placed it on the passenger seat of the vehicle. Pampo said the victim pinned her elbow into his neck, causing a great deal of pain due to a prior neck injury.  

Deputy Steven Pillar reported, “He described the location of her elbow being at the base of his neck near her collar bone. He first stated he bit her while her elbow was still pushing against her neck. He then changed his story and said he was able to physically move her elbow from his neck, then bit her arm. The first of which is not plausible due to it not being possible to bite the victim's arm in the location of the bite with her elbow pushing against the base of his neck. The second account is evidence of not needing to bite the victim due to removing her elbow from his neck in another manner, making the bite unwarranted.”

On August 6, Pampo’s defense counsel filed a motion to find him immune from prosecution, stating the following:

• “The alleged victim and her boyfriend were being disrespectful, and Mr. Pampo decided he was going to call the boyfriend's parents. Mr. Pampo had a piece of paper with the boyfriend's mother's number on it, and he left the home with that piece of paper in order to make the call. He went and sat in his car.
• The alleged victim followed Mr. Pampo out to his car.
• Mr. Pampo started to dial the number, and the alleged victim reached into the car to snatch the piece of paper out of the Defendant's hand.
• Mr. Pampo pulled the piece of paper away and the alleged victim proceeded to try and grab the paper by reaching further into the car with her arm across the Defendant's neck.
• The Defendant is 64 years old with significant muscular/skeletal medical issues. The Defendant suffers from failed back surgery syndrome, lumbar stenosis with neurogenic claudication, cervicalgia, osteoarthritis, and osteopenia. He requires assistance when walking, and has a history of falling.
• At the point that the alleged victim tried to grab an object out of Mr. Pampo's hand and reached further into the car to continue to try and grab the object out of Mr. Pampo's hand he bit the alleged victim in an effort to get her to stop her use of force against him.
• In her written statement, the alleged victim writes, "[Pampo] got in his car and started dialing my boyfriend's mom's number. I reached for the paper with the number on it, but he pulled it away. I reached past him to grab the paper when he proceeded to bite my arm to stop me from taking the number."

Pampo is required to have no contact with the victim and must complete an anger management class and mental health evaluation, court records show.