Dad sentenced for attack on teen who propositioned daughter
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A man has been sentenced to two years in prison after he participated in an attack upon a 13-year-old boy who made a lewd comment to his teenage daughter on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
The SunSentinel reports that 33-year-old Jason Lawson, of Toledo, Ohio, and his 31-year-old brother-in-law, Arturo Martinez, refused to let the boy leave the cruise ship’s library in 2015 after Martinez heard the boy offer Lawson’s daughter, also 13, a “key chain for her virginity.”
Investigators said Lawson first made the boy apologize to his daughter, but later, Martinez cornered the kid and beat him while Lawson watched, making sure he couldn’t escape, reports CBS Miami. Prosecutors in Broward County, Florida said Lawson did nothing as Martinez simulated a sex act on the boy after forcing him to pull down his pants.
Lawson pleaded no contest Friday to charges of child abuse and false imprisonment. He apologized Monday, telling the judge he was embarrassed he didn’t stop the attack.
“I didn’t mean any harm,” Lawson reportedly said. “This was not me.”