A 26-year-old man remains in the Broward County Jail following accusations that he raped a young girl in a room full of children during an apparent sleep-over at a Pompano Beach home nearly two years ago.
Quintavis Bernard Swain was arrested Saturday on three charges of lewd and lascivious molestation involving a child between the ages of 12 and 16, for an incident that allegedly happened Nov. 13, 2020, records show.
According to the arrest report, the girl said she awoke about 3 a.m. to someone touching her. It was dark and she was sleeping on a couch next to several nieces and a nephew.
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She said she heard footsteps before hearing Swain tell her “not to tell anyone” and “I can get in trouble.” She lay still in fear and was quiet so as not to wake anyone. Afterward, she tried to contact her mother without success, so she texted her grandmother to come get her, the report stated.
According to her cellphone records, text messages read in part: “Please come get me. I can’t stay here. I’ll explain later but I’m at [name] house. I’m scared.” She also texted her grandmother that she couldn’t call her because “I think he might hear me.”
She told her grandmother because she said her mother wouldn’t believe her “and till this day my mom tells me I was just lying” about a previous, non-sexual fondling incident, the report stated.
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When her grandparents arrived at the Hammondville Road address after 4 a.m., she was waiting outside barefoot.
The grandparents took her to the hospital after she explained what happened. Detectives got involved and she was taken to a sexual assault treatment center where forensic evidence and her clothing were collected.
She would later tell detectives she was a virgin and not sexually active, the report stated.
At Swain’s first court appearance Sunday, defense attorney Frank Maister gave three reasons why his client should be released from jail.
“When she reported it to police, she didn’t say who did what, you have DNA reports that are negative for male DNA, and you have a complaining witness who in her own writing confirms a previous false report,” he said.
Broward Circuit Judge George Odom Jr. set a combined bond of $45,000 but Swain remains in jail for violating probation on a prior unrelated case, records show.
