LEESBURG, Fla. — Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a former Lake County Deacon who was arrested on charges of molesting children in a tree house in his back yard.
Thomas Halsey, 67, was a deacon at the First Baptist Church in Leesburg.
A victim’s mother said that Halsey had been sexually abusing her daughter over a course of two years. The victim told her mother about the alleged abuse in 2014.
In an arrest affidavit, the victim said she performed a sex act on Halsey inside a large tree house in Halsey’s back yard.
The victim also told detectives Halsey wanted her to keep it a secret, and not tell her mother or Halsey’s wife.
The arrest report describes how the girl, who was under 10 years old at the time, drew pictures for investigators.
Halsey tried to shift the blame on the victim, according to reports, and told detectives that the victim touched him inappropriately while he was asleep on a bed inside the tree house, and that the girl said she’d run away if he told anyone. Officials said Halsey also claimed the victim touched him inappropriately on other occasions.
“For obvious reasons, that just didn’t jibe with what we found,” said Sgt. James Vachon with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
After the victim reported the incident, deputies obtained a search warrant for the tree house.
Deputies said the deacon’s wife, Tamra Halsey, did not know about the incident and has been cooperating with the investigation.
Halsey had been a member of the church for 13 years.
Records show Halsey passed a background check to become a deacon.
Cox Media Group
