Handley v. State

LEVY, Judge.

The Defendant appeals the trial court’s order imposing a sentence which departed upward from the sentencing guidelines, claiming that the court erred in basing the departure on the reasons of familial authority and the need for treatment.

The Defendant was married to the victim’s grandmother, and was the victim’s step-grandfather. According to the victim/step-granddaughter’s testimony, the Defendant sexually abused her in 1985, when he was taking care of her while her mother and grandmother were away.

The Defendant was charged by information with sexual battery and lewd assault on a…