State
of Florida
Office of the State Attorney
16th Judicial Circuit
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Office of the State Attorney 16th Judicial Circuit
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Criminal Justice System Overview Employment Opportunities |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 14, 2006 Pedophile Confined on Jimmy Ryce Law State Attorney Mark Kohl put an Islamorada pedophile under lock and key on Monday for what may be the rest of his life. Kohl was set to prosecute Miguel Lloren, 35, before a Plantation Key jury on Monday for his involuntary civil commitment. Lloren, in a surprise move, side stepped a trial by agreeing to his own internment. Lloren, a “sexually violent predator,” has perpetrated nearly 20 crimes against young children over the course of more than ten years. But Lloren did not run afoul of the law this time – instead, he ran up against the Jimmy Ryce Act, a Florida statute that allows authorities to put convicted sexual offenders in a “secure facility” involuntarily and indefinitely if they believe they could reoffend. Lloren agreed to his confinement in the Florida Commitment Center in Arcadia until a psychologist in favor of his commitment says he can be released. That could be never. The Jimmy Ryce Act is named for the nine-year-old who, in 1995, stepped off a school bus and disappeared for months. Jimmy’s backpack was later spotted in the trailer of Juan Chavez, a ranch hand. Chavez led authorities to Jimmy’s body. The boy had been raped, murdered and dismembered. In a remarkable coincidence, Kohl’s Chief Assistant State Attorney Catherine Vogel, then working for the Miami-Dade State Attorney, prosecuted the Chavez case. He was convicted and sentenced to death in September 1998. Lloren’s own sexual offences began when he was a teenager in Kentucky. He was charged with 15 counts of sexual battery against young children, including his siblings, nieces and nephews. A Kentucky judge reduced the 15 charges to one provided that Lloren enter a residential juvenile counseling program. Lloren agreed, but walked away from the facility on his 18th birthday. Lloren moved to Islamorada and in 1991 molested two boys, eight and nine. He knew both boys’ families. He met his eight-year-old victim, with his mother, in an Upper Keys Laundromat. Pretending to need hangers, Lloren offered to take the boy on a ride to his house to fetch them. Once there, Lloren played a pornographic video, which the boy described as a “Playboy tape,” removed the boy’s pants and fondled him. Although he bribed the boy a dollar not to talk, the youngster told his mother about the incident. Later that evening, Lloren lured his nine-year-old victim from a local bowling alley to his house on another pretext. Again, he played a pornographic tape and fondled the boy. The two boys happened to be playmates and the nine-year-old told his friend about the sexual assault. When the boy then told his mother about the second incident, the boy’s mother alerted authorities. Lloren was convicted of one count of lewd and lascivious assault on a child under 16. He was sentenced to three years behind bars and 12 years probation. He earned “gain time” for good behavior and ended up serving one year of the prison term. In 1995, Lloren reoffended. He offered to baby-sit a five-year-old boy and fondled him in his car on their way home from church. The boy told his mother who reported the incident to police. This time, Lloren was sentenced to eight years in prison and seven years of probation. Before he was released from incarceration, State Attorney Mark Kohl petitioned the court to have Lloren declared a “sexually violent predator” and held in the Florida Commitment Center pending trial. The court agreed. Monday’s hearing was intended to determine whether or not Lloren should be detained until psychiatrists and social workers decided he was no longer a threat to children. Lloren waived his right to the trial by agreeing that he would enter the Florida Commitment Center indefinitely. The Jimmy Ryce Act is not without its critics. It has been challenged on constitutional grounds – and upheld – before the Florida and U. S. Supreme Courts. In most criminal actions, hearsay testimony, privileged conversations between a respondent and a psychiatrist and “prior bad acts” are not admissible evidence. In Jimmy Ryce hearings they are because of a “compelling state interest” – to protect society against sexual predators. Aware of the controversy, Kohl agrees with the spirit of the law. “Our office has no more important responsibility than to protect children,” Kohl said. “Lloren has demonstrated that he will reoffend against children if given the opportunity. We are taking that opportunity away from him for good.” |
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Last modified:
10/23/07
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