14-year-old neighbor rapes 91-year-old during break-in, Florida cops say. He’s sentenced

A 14-year-old boy accused of attacking and raping a 91-year-old woman in her bed has received a lengthy prison sentence in Florida.

Jesse Stone was prosecuted as an adult and sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of sexual battery and burglary of a dwelling with battery on Feb. 7, according to records filed in Marion County.

Stone’s attorney declined to comment on the case to McClatchy News.

The home invasion and rape of the 91-year-old shook the small town of Reddick, with a population of fewer than 500 people, and Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the attacker.

To many people’s surprise, the accused perpetrator was 14.

The evening of June 8, the woman reported she woke up to see a “dark shadow” hunched over and coming down the hall toward her bedroom, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Marion County.

Then the person jumped on her in bed, and she tried to fight him as he repeatedly punched her in the face, McClatchy News reported.

She said she prayed to God for help, but her attacker told her to shut up before he tore off her underwear and sexually assaulted her, according to deputies. He eventually ran out of the house, leaving the woman with no clear description of her attacker in the dark, deputies said.

When investigators arrived at a hospital to interview her, they said they found her in a cervical collar with bruises on her arms and her face, which was still bloody.

The woman said the day before the attack, a “neighborhood youth,” later identified as Stone, stopped by and had a conversation with her, deputies said. She described him as a “good” boy and said it had been awhile since he had come by, according to the report.

Law enforcement began canvassing the area the day after the incident when Stone rode up to them on his bike and said his neighbor had something to show them, deputies said. On the neighbor’s surveillance video from the night of the break-in, a person is seen jogging wearing clothes similar to the ones Stone was wearing when he approached the deputies, according to investigators.

They got permission from Stone’s grandmother, who was his guardian, to take DNA swabs, which came back as a match for DNA found on the woman’s underwear, deputies said.

He was taken into custody at his high school and told investigators he had entered the woman’s home and watched pornography on her iPad, then he assaulted her in the bedroom, deputies said.

Stone initially pleaded not guilty to the charges before changing his plea in November, records show. He turned 15 in December.

His attorney, Jonathan Mills, urged the judge for leniency, WOFL reported.

“Mr. Stone had no criminal history,” the attorney said, according to the outlet. “His brain was nowhere near fully developed … and is still probably 10 years off from that being the case.”

According to Stone’s family and his attorney, the teen had a difficult upbringing without his parents’ involvement, and he developed a pornography addiction, WFTV reported.

Reddick is about a 14-mile drive north from Ocala.

This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM with the headline "14-year-old neighbor rapes 91-year-old during break-in, Florida cops say. He’s sentenced."