A 15-year-old boy has been charged as an adult following the alleged armed sexual assault of a woman in Hollywood in mid-June, when he was 14.
Terry Berger Smith is facing five charges that include sexual assault and battery with a weapon on a person over 12, and kidnapping, records show.
After a bond court hearing Friday morning, defense attorney Jim Lewis said no child should be jailed with adults.
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“We’re looking at hard time in state prison for a [15]-year old,” Lewis said. “It’s not right.”
Broward assistant state attorney Eric Linder told Judge Phoebee Francois some of the details of the crime.
“He stalked his victim. He said he wanted to add her to his collection, repeatedly raped her, live-streamed the incident to his friend,” he said. “When the victim asked if he had any sexually transmitted diseases, he told her he had AIDS."
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Linder also said Smith had served 18 months in a juvenile jail in New York for an attempted sexual assault armed with a knife, and a robbery.
Lewis said Smith is facing between 20 and 30 years in prison if convicted as an adult and there are other juvenile program options that exist to handle this case.
“We have no choice but to fight them [charges],” he said. “It didn’t have to go this way. It shouldn’t go this way.”
Smith is being held without bond in the juvenile section of the Paul Rein Detention Center in Pompano Beach.
