HEALTHWATCH: Kevin Kinder, Convicted Child Molester
Bill Schenley
A child molester serving prison time for raping four boys 11
years ago was beaten unconscious by one of the victims when
they were put into the same holding cell, authorities said.
Sheriff's officials said they had no idea the two men had a
history.
Kevin Kinder, 31, was beaten Thursday morning in a holding
cell shared by about 60 inmates awaiting transport to court.
The abuse victim, now 22 years old, was charged Friday with
felony battery.
The man's mother, Judy Cornett, said her son recounted the
chance meeting in a telephone conversation later Thursday.
He told her he saw Kinder across the cell "and just
snapped," dropping him with a single punch and knocking out
a tooth.
"I could hear in his voice that he got some sort of
satisfaction out it," Cornett said. "He has had to live with
this pain and anger for 11 years."
Kinder pleaded guilty in 1992 to performing lewd acts on
four boys ages 11-14. Cornett's son and his best friend were
molested after Kinder lured them to some woods with the
promise of some comic books.
Kinder served six years of a 17-year sentence and was held
until 2001 under the Jimmy Ryce Act, which allows the state
to confine people found to be violent sexual predators after
their prison term expires.
In August, a judge sentenced Kinder to 60 years in prison
after he violated his probation by having pornography on his
home computer, stealing a car from his employer and breaking
a restriction to drive only to and from his workplace.
Cornett's son has been in and out of legal trouble, and she
blames Kinder for much of it. Her son was scheduled to be
arraigned in court Thursday morning on a charge of violating
probation for burglary, stealing a car and resisting an
officer without violence.
Kinder had been brought from the state prison to Tampa for a
hearing.
Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder said the two men ending up
in the same cell in the 4,200-inmate jail was a fluke.
"When you're in the jail under charges, we don't ask you if
you've ever been a victim of a crime, and could there be
anybody in here that victimized you," Reder said.
Rick Escobar, the attorney for Cornett's son, said it's easy
to understand why his client attacked Kinder, and he said
he'll take the battery charge to trial.
"I don't think there's a jury in the country that would
convict him," Escobar said