TAMPA — He was a 22-year-old security officer, one in a legion of state-mandated guardians assigned to protect Hillsborough County’s youngest students. Less than a year into the job, school officials and police said he had betrayed the trust of a community, that he victimized one of the children he was supposed to keep safe.
In court Thursday, Malcolm Curtis Tillman admitted what he had done, pleading guilty to a charge of attempted sexual battery. The victim was 6 years old.
In exchange for his guilty plea, Tillman agreed to a 10-year prison sentence. He will remain on probation for 15 years following his release. He will have to register as a sexual predator, a designation that severely restricts where he will be able to live, work or even be present.
Tillman, now 24, said little during a brief court hearing Thursday afternoon before Hillsborough Circuit Judge Michael Williams.
Seated wearing a medical mask in a visitation room at the Orient Road Jail, Tillman watched by video and answered a set of standard questions from the judge about whether he understood the consequences of his guilty plea. He listened as a prosecutor read a summary of what had occurred.
“Did you in fact commit that crime?” the judge asked.
Tillman paused, then answered: “yes, sir.”
The Hillsborough school district hired Tillman in July 2018 after a statewide mandate which aimed to put security officers in all public schools. The effort came in response to the shooting earlier that year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
On Jan. 10, 2019, a 6-year-old student at Booker T. Washington Elementary School told an older relative that an officer at the school had done something inappropriate to her, according to court records. The relative notified school officials and police.
The girl said the officer had taken her to a “game room” in the school and told her to sit in a chair with her hands behind her back, according to court records. He blindfolded her. He told her not to be scared, according to court records, then committed what was described in court as an attempted sexual battery.
The girl later went with police to the room where the crime occurred and pointed out what was described in a search warrant affidavit as a black fleece jacket that she said was used to cover her eyes. A prosecutor described the item in court as a sweater.
The item was sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which identified sperm cells on it that belonged to Tillman, a prosecutor said.
When questioned by investigators, Tillman denied the allegation, but admitted being alone with the girl in the room, police said. He was arrested after testing of the sweater backed up the girl’s account of what occurred.
Upon his arrest, he was immediately fired and has remained jailed ever since.
The plea agreement came days before Tillman was to go to trial on a charge of capital sexual battery, which carries a mandatory life sentence. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge following plea negotiations.
“In this case, we obtained a harsh sentence while making sure that the victim would not be re-traumatized through a trial,” the office of Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said in a statement. “As a result of today’s plea, our community is safer, and the victim and her family can begin the healing process.”
*story by The Tampa Bay Times
(*) WhitePrideHomeSchool.com