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Largo Man Charged With Molesting Girls, Ages 7 And 8

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TBO.com

Published: November 4, 2008

TAMPA - A Largo man is accused of molesting two girls, ages 7 and 8, while babysitting them this year, Tampa police said.

James Philip Mineo, 57, was held at the Pinellas County Jail today on four warrants charging him with capital sexual battery. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office arrested him on the warrants Monday.

Tampa police interviewed Mineo in April after the children accused him of molesting them during an overnight stay in Tampa in March. The girls said Mineo had performed sex acts on them and showed them a sex toy, according to a police report.

Mineo told police he had watched the girls and their 3-year-old brother for their mother, whom he was dating, when she was at work. He denied molesting the girls but said they had seen a vibrator on the floorboard of his car one day while he drove them to school, the report states.

Mineo told police in the report that he thought the children's mother was using that incident against him "because he is running out of money to pay for things for her."

Police submitted the findings of their investigation to the State Attorney's Office in July. Prosecutors opted to file charges against Mineo on Oct. 20, the report states.

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