School employee accused of sex crime
By DAVE SHELTON
Article published on Wednesday, June 28, 2006  |
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| Mike Satterwhite |
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LARGO – Deputies claim a Pinellas County school bus driver and self-proclaimed minister sexually assaulted an 8-year-old girl last year in Seminole.
Mike Satterwhite, 44, 13333 Ridge Road, was being held June 26 in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Satterwhite was arrested at his home June 23, offering no resistance according to Sgt. Jim Bordner, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman. Satterwhite was charged with one count of capital sexual battery.
Bordner said the suspect engaged in “sexual acts” in March of 2005 with the alleged victim who was a member of Satterwhite’s family.
“This was a custodial situation,” said Bordner, who also said few other details would be released in order to protect the victim’s identity.
Investigators said Satterwhite wasn’t a school bus driver when the incident allegedly happened, but had been hired by the Pinellas County School Board as a driver after the alleged assault.
Bordner said the investigation began last October when the allegations were brought to the Sheriff’s Crimes Against Children unit. At that time, he said, Satterwhite was driving a school bus.
Investigators do not anticipate any other victims to surface, Bordner said.
State and county court records show Satterwhite had no other criminal convictions in Florida.
While he’s in jail, Satterwhite remains a school board employee but won’t be paid, according to Pinellas school spokeswoman Andrea Zahn. She said that if Satterwhite is released from jail, he would be placed on unpaid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the criminal charge.
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Article published on Wednesday, June 28, 2006
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