Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
On Monday, Jan. 30, two men were sentenced when they had their day in court in front of the Honorable Judge Melissa Olin, of the Third Judicial Circuit of Florida, at the Madison County Courthouse. Dallas Marlo Akins and Andrew John Tuten both pled guilty to their charges.
In a case that was originally filed in November of 2021, Akins, 52, of Madison, was originally charged with sexual battery with threat or force, sexual battery on a child under 12 years of age and lewd and lascivious molestation of a child. Prosecutors dropped charges on the sexual battery with threat or force and sexual battery on a child under 12 years of age. Akins pled guilty on the third charge of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child. As part of his punishment, he was sentenced to 10 years of sexual offender probation. He was also ordered to undergo substance abuse evaluation and random testing, attend an employability workshop within the first six months, produce DNA samples, have no contact with the victim or her mother, subject to electronic monitoring and designation as a sexual offender. He was also ordered to pay $1,515 in fines and court costs. Akins had previously faced similar charges in a case originally filed in May of 2008. In that case, the prosecutor dropped all charges. Tuten, 60, of Jasper, Fla., was charged with solicitation to commit transmission of pornography by an electronic device in August of 2022. He pled guilty to a lesser charge of the unlawful use of a two-way device. He was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to have no contact with the victim or her family. He was ordered to enter a sexual offender treatment program, produce DNA and keep a curfew between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. He was also ordered to pay a total of $765 in court costs.
Sgt. Marcus Holbrook, of the Madison County Sheriff's Office, was the investigating officer in both cases.