Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier demanded Friday that Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell criminally charge a man who allegedly masturbated in front of children at an Apopka park last month.
Worrell responded there was not enough evidence to pursue the matter and argued that Uthmeier’s demands — made in an Orlando press conference — were less about that criminal case and more about the DeSantis administration’s larger push to remove her from office again.
Uthmeier and Worrell held separate news conferences in Orlando blasting the other’s job performance, the latest in a series of public spats between the two since Worrell was reelected as state attorney. Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Worrell in August 2023 saying she had been derelict in her duty, a charge she denied. Voters then put her back in office in November.
The attorney general said Worrell had declined to bring charges against a man accused of masturbating on a public park bench while facing children playing at a splash pad. A news release from Uthmeier’s office said the incident occurred Aug. 16 at Kit Land Nelson Park in Apopka and that the 61-year-old suspect was arrested.
The case was part of a larger “pattern of soft on crime policies,” Uthmeier said.
“We’re not going to stand by and allow the state attorney to fail to do her job. This is systematic abuse. It is gross negligence,” Uthmeier said. “She took an oath. She’s not delivering on that oath. And we’re going to step up and do what we can to hold her accountable and to protect our citizens.”
Uthmeier demanded that Worrell bring charges against the man, and that if she didn’t, he would work with the governor’s office to assign the case to a different judicial circuit. “I hope she will change her mind and decide to do her job. If not, we will do it for her.”
At her own news conference, Worrell criticized Uthmeier and questioned his motives.
“These are the consequences when people are not elected based on their experience, but rather are appointed based on their relationships,” she said. “It is clear that the underlying intention here is to unjustly remove me from office, yet again.”
DeSantis appointed Uthmeier, his former chief of staff, to the attorney general post in February.
Worrell said she had not been directly involved in the masturbation case but that she respected the judgement of the prosecutor who handled it and ultimately made the decision not to prosecute. She referenced and displayed documents filed by that prosecutor, citing other cases that helped them decide they should not prosecute.
“I am standing before you today telling you that I trust the word of the attorney who was assigned to this case when he said although those actions were wrong, he could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they were illegal,” Worrell said. “And that is the only standard by which we go forward in prosecution.”
At Uthmeier’s conference, the attorney general called it an open-and-shut case with video evidence and witness testimony. Statewide Prosecutor Brad McVay said the father of a 2-year-old playing at the splash pad called police and took photographs. McVay also said the father believes the case should be prosecuted.
Worrell, however, said the prosecutor spoke with the father, who confirmed that his child did not see anything and wasn’t aware of what was happening.
The prosecutor explained to the father that, based on the language of the statute, they could not charge the man with exhibition, which would have been a felony. Because no other adult saw the man’s genitals, she added, they also could not charge him with any of the misdemeanor crimes of exposure.
Worrell said the father was upset, but the prosecutor thought he left a 45-minute conversation understanding why the case could not be prosecuted.
Uthmeier also said Worrell dropped charges against another man, who allegedly possessed child pornography showing the sexual abuse of toddlers. That man nearly fled the country but his office “got him again” and will be prosecuting him, he said.
Worrell said her office only closed the child pornography case after the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution notified them that it intended to take it over and then filed its own charges. She said that was standard procedure.
“Either the attorney general doesn’t understand the work that we do here, or he just has a reckless disregard for providing you all with the truth,” she said.
When a reporter at Uthmeier’s conference asked him if Worrell being removed from office again was a possibility, Uthmeier said the DeSantis administration would “see what happens” and that would be the governor’s call.
“You know, she was reelected by the people, but we continue to see a failure of oath, a failure of duty. So, you know, we’re going to look at this,” he said.
But “in the short run,” Uthmeier said he would look at ways “to get cases not being prosecuted out of this jurisdiction where we can ensure they are.”
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