Hawthorne Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Child Sexual Abuse
Wesley Robert Fickett, 46, has been sentenced to ten years in prison after being convicted of two counts of lewd/lascivious battery against a victim 12-16.
Fickett started sexually abusing the victim when she was 14. Fickett continued sexually abusing the victim over the course of several months.
According to court documents, the victim told her mom about the sexual abuse, leading her to confront Fickett. When confronted, Fickett reportedly pushed the victim’s mom to the ground.
When arresting Fickett, deputies reportedly found firearms in his vehicle despite an active domestic violence injunction preventing him from owning firearms. Fickett said that he had multiple guns in his safe and that he was unaware the injunction was still active.
Fickett was charged with three counts of lewd/lascivious battery, three counts of battery by expelling bodily fluids and one count of violating a domestic violence injunction.
Fickett’s attorney, Jimmie Sparrow, motioned for bond, but Ferrero granted prosecutors’ pretrial detention motion.
When speaking to the Child Protection Team, the victim disclosed that she was not allowed to text Fickett because he did not want there to be evidence. Fickett reportedly said he knew he could get in trouble. Fickett also discouraged the victim from spending time with her friends.
Judge Denise Ferrero described the victim’s disclosures as reliable and consistent “with the dynamics of ongoing sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust and access,” in an order pertaining to the victim's statements being used as evidence. Ferrero also determined that Fickett pushing the victim's mom to the ground is "conduct probative of consciousness of guilt" and corroborates the victim's account of his sexual abuse.
Prosecutors formally filed four counts of lewd/lascivious battery against Fickett but dropped the other charges. Fickett was not charged with sexual battery, but his actions are consistent with commonly accepted definitions of rape. Fickett frequently provided the victim with alcohol during the sexual abuse incidents.
On August 7, after over a year of litigation, Fickett, facing 60 years in prison at trial, entered into a no-contest plea agreement where he was convicted of two counts of lewd/lascivious battery and sentenced to ten years in prison, followed by ten years of sex offender probation. Prosecutors dropped the two remaining counts. The agreement was accepted by Judge Denise Ferrero and signed by Assistant State Attorney Nicole Reed.
When out of prison, Fickett will not be allowed to have any unsupervised contact with minors and will have to undergo a "safety plan" before "being around any children." He'll be subject to electronic monitoring, a nighttime curfew, and be required to submit to polygraph testing. He'll be required to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and cannot have any contact with the victim.
Court records in Alachua County show Fickett was arrested twice for domestic battery in 2018 but the charges were dropped in both cases.
