Man Acquitted Of Sexual Abuse; Recordings Inadmissible
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FORT MYERS (AP) — A southwest Florida man who was previously sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting his stepdaughter has been acquitted at his second trial.
A Lee County jury found 68-year-old Richard McDade not guilty Thursday on five child sexual abuse counts.
A now-20-year-old woman claimed McDade raped her for six years, starting when she was 10. When she was 16, she recorded two conversations about sex with McDade using a hidden MP3 player. She then took the recordings to police.
The Florida Supreme Court overturned McDade's conviction last year, because Florida law generally prohibits conversations to be recorded or otherwise intercepted without the consent of both parties. Jurors in the second trial didn't hear the recordings.
The Florida Legislature passed a bill last month that would allow child sex abuse victims to secretly record the abuse. The bill needs Gov. Rick Scott's signature to become law.
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