Ex-Dade Correctional prison officer convicted of having sex with an underage girl

A Miami jury late Friday convicted a former South Miami-Dade state corrections officer who admitted he had sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Detrick Lamar Hussey, 40, a former officer at Dade Correctional Institution near Homestead, was convicted of one count of lewd and lascivious battery. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced in the coming weeks.

According to prosecutors, Hussey, then 35, struck up a friendship with the teenage girl he met at a discount store in Florida City in December 2016. He took her out for a meal, then drinks, then, later, home for sex, prosecutors said.

A friend of the girl’s mother saw the two together, and Homestead police detectives opened an investigation. The young woman this week testified about what happened.

“He was a 35-year-old man and he had the responsibility to not have sex with a child,” Assistant State Attorney Amy Drever, who tried the case with lead prosecutor Natasha Moghadam, told jurors during closing arguments.

DNA samples taken off the girl’s body matched Hussey, jurors heard. Hussey’s defense: his confession to police was false, and the DNA evidence was flawed.

Jurors deliberated about three hours. He was acquitted of a second count of the same felony charge. Hussey was represented by defense attorney Lance Garrett. Hussey will be sentenced by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Joseph Perkins.

This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 8:11 AM.