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Attorney For Sexual Battery Victim Speaks Out

News Channel 8 photo by MELISSA LEE

Paul Kimsey, the attorney of the 15-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted on a school bus outside of Dixie Hollins High School, held a press conference Saturday in Westchase where he explained how the victim's family felt the incident was more than horseplay.

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By MIKE WELLS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2008

WESTCHASE Hours after one of three suspects in the sexual battery of a 15-year-old girl was released from Pinellas County Jail early Saturday, the girl's attorney spoke out against comments made by the defendant's mother.

Dixie Hollins High School student Branden Allen, 18, was arrested Thursday and charged with sexual battery and false imprisonment, along with two juvenile males. He was released from custody at 1:47 a.m. on $55,000 bail, records show.

On Friday, Branden Allen's mother, Trina Allen, told reporters her son would not commit such an act and that the situation must have been a misunderstanding.

There could be no misunderstanding, attorney Paul Kimsey said. He appeared at a brief news conference Saturday afternoon in Westchase.

"This was not a consensual act," Kimsey said. "In short, this was not an act of horseplay that got out of hand."

He said the victim and Branden Allen were not friends.

"They may have ridden the same bus," he said, "but I don't even believe she knew his name."

The victim and her family had not intended to make any public statements until they learned what Trina Allen said to reporters, he said.

The attack happened about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday on a bus that was on school grounds at 4940 62nd St. N., authorities said. The bus transports students who stay after school for extracurricular activities or sports.

Investigators say two other boys, Jermeil Douse, 16, and Jacolbi Williams, 15, served as lookouts and are charged with being principals to sexual battery and false imprisonment. They were being held at the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center. All three suspects are Dixie Hollins football players.

The driver had left the bus to round up students who were running late, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said. While he was gone, Allen opened the bus door and went inside. The girl, whose name was not released, followed to get a seat for the ride home, detectives said. Douse and Williams boarded next.

The arrest affidavit says the girl was sexually assaulted twice and that she tried numerous times to get Allen to stop.

The incident stopped as other students arrived to board the bus, detectives said. The girl's parents contacted the sheriff's office Wednesday.

Kimsey said the driver was gone for more than 20 minutes and that a surveillance video will show the girl was molested against her will.

Attorney Lucas Fleming, who represents Branden Allen, said Saturday he thinks the video will show something different.

"We will be able to [determine] from that if there was any sort of struggle," he said.

Tribune reporters Carlos Moncada and Stephen Thompson contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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