Wewa man found guilty a decade after sex crime
A Wewahitchka man was found guilty as charged Friday of molesting a child in Bay County more than 10 years ago.
State Attorney Larry Basford said Henry Hollis Mangum, 59, was found guilty of two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation.
The six-person jury deliberated only about 20 minutes after hearing the case presented by Prosecutor Brea Dearing.
Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay set sentencing for May 6. The defendant faces a minimum 25-year sentence.
Dearing called four witnesses, including the victim who was under 10 years of age at the time of the offense, and presented evidence proving Mangum molested the child. The crime was initially unreported, but a series of events in 2021 led to the disclosure.
A forensic interview by an Alabama child protection team and other evidence gathered proved the victim’s case.
“We are pleased we got a result that reflects she was telling the truth when she disclosed this sexual abuse to her mom, the police, and today to a jury,” Dearing said. “It was a tough day for her, but now she doesn’t have to worry about him harming her again.”
Dearing noted the importance of the verdict on a crime that was reported years after it occurred, because it shows other sexual abuse victims that they will be heard if they come forward.
Basford thanked both the Alabama agencies initially involved in the investigation and the Panama City Police Department for gathering the evidence to build a strong case.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.