TAMPA - Convicted child molester Kevin Kinder, inadvertently placed in a jail holding area with a man he abused more than a decade ago, was beaten unconscious Thursday when the man recognized him and exacted revenge.
Kinder was in Tampa for a court hearing before returning to state prison. He was put in a large room with about 65 other inmates at the Orient Road Jail.
One of them was Jason Edward Flores, being held on a probation violation. Flores, now 22, was 11 when Kinder abused him and three other boys.
``It's such a fluke that these two ended up in the same place at the same time,'' said Flores' mother, Judy Coronett. ``But think about how [my son] feels. He was finally able to confront Kinder and fight back after 11 years. I think it's damn therapeutic.''
Flores' attorney, Ricky Escobar of Tampa, confirmed Thursday that his client jumped on Kinder and punched him repeatedly, knocking out a tooth and leaving Kinder unconscious.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said Flores attacked Kinder as the two were awaiting transportation to the Hillsborough County Courthouse for separate hearings.
Inmates' paperwork typically indicates whether they should be separated, she said, but there were no red flags in either man's file Thursday. Corrections officials will decide today whether to file new charges against Flores or Kinder. Both men suffered minor injuries.
The Tampa Tribune typically does not publish the names of sexual assault victims. However, Flores has discussed the case in public, including granting an interview to WFLA, News Channel 8.
In 1992, Kinder persuaded the young Flores and three other boys to go with him to a secluded area. There, he threatened and molested them, prosecutors said.
Coronett said her son led a troubled life after the episode and has had many run-ins with the law. In the years after the assault, she said, her son attempted suicide, lost his boyhood friend and felt Kinder stole his soul.
``The fact that he recognized him after 11 years, and given all the changes in that time, tells me that this is seared in his consciousness,'' Coronett said. ``I'm sure he'll never forget that face.''
Kinder, 31, was sentenced in July to 60 years in prison for violating his probation. Authorities said he had pornography on his computer, stole a car from his employer, and violated a restriction to drive only to and from work.
Kinder had been released on parole after spending six years in prison for the molestations. He was moved to the Martin Correctional Institution in Indiantown and was supposed to be in court Thursday to address a technicality in his sentencing, Escobar said.
Coronett has been public in her efforts to keep Kinder incarcerated. When he was released on parole, she distributed fliers about him to his neighbors, which Kinder said cost him a rental unit and several job offers.
Authorities at one point moved him to Port St. Lucie, on Florida's east coast, where Kinder worked for a rental car agency. But he was later arrested for violating parole.
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wat goes around comes around????
karma????
Luck.