Why doesn’t Miami-Dade man accused of child sexual abuse have to register as a sex offender?
A man accused of sexually abusing a girl for nearly a decade won’t have to register as a sex offender after striking a plea deal with Miami-Dade prosecutors.
On Tuesday, almost five years after his arrest, Albert Bassett, 90, of North Miami, pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alberto Milian. In 2019, Bassett was charged with four counts of sexual battery on a minor and three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct after Keisha Etienne, now 36, told Miami-Dade police she was sexually assaulted by Bassett, her aunt’s boyfriend, starting at the age of 9 and continuing for almost a decade.
Under the agreement, negotiated by Bassett’s defense team and approved by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, Bassett is ordered to complete 10 years’ probation, is barred from unsupervised contact with minors and must stay away from the victim.
If he had pleaded guilty to the original charges, Bassett would have been placed on the sex-offender registry, required in Florida for people convicted of sexual battery, human trafficking and unlawful sexual activity with minors, among other offenses.
At a courtroom lectern, Etienne expressed her frustration with the plea deal, which her attorneys have likened to a slap on the wrist. Etienne, surrounded by her lawyers and loved ones, said all she wanted as a child was a father figure.
Despite empathizing with Etienne’s tearful plea, Judge Milian said he felt compelled to accept the deal, adding that “maybe this is the best society can do.”
“This is justice for all,” Milian said.
Prosecutor Arvind Singh said he and others at the state attorney’s office “understand the frustration” with the decision, though he added that there are a “myriad of reasons” for the agreement. He said he didn’t delve into why “out of respect” for Etienne.
When speaking to Milian, defense attorney Sabrina Puglisi said the plea is “based on the evidence.”
According to attorney Aaron Karger, who’s representing Etienne, Chief Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Hoague, in conversations about the plea deal, said a jury could interpret Bassett’s payments for braces and other expenses from Etienne’s childhood as “reparations.”
And Hoague said it would be “too much of a burden” to make Bassett move from his North Miami home, as he would be required to by law if he were a registered sex offender and lived near places where children congregated. Public records indicate Bassett lives within a mile radius of several schools.
Neither Hoague nor Singh addressed Karger’s allegations at the hearing, though the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office told the Herald Hoague never used the word “reparations” in discussions about the plea deal.
Why a plea deal?
In a closeout memo provided to the Miami Herald, Singh points to the “emotional and financial relationship” between Bassett and Etienne as a reason for the deal. Information provided by Etienne, he states, shows that Bassett financially supported her throughout her childhood and young adulthood, even helping her pay for part of her master’s program.
The defense, according to the memo, requested that the plea agreement involve non-sexual charges so that Bassett wouldn’t have to register as a sex offender, which “would have the unintended consequence of requiring the Defendant to move from his residence.”
“The reason this is important is because of the Defendant’s advanced age (90 years old), his poor physical health and his wife’s poor physical health,” the memo states.
Bassett’s attorneys, however, “always maintained that they will not be denying the sexual nature of the criminal conduct,” Singh says in the memo. The state attorney’s office also “suggested a written proffer to the Victim to be filed with the Court as a way of ensuring this fact,” but Etienne rejected the offer.
The plea deal ratified on Tuesday includes the same conditions outlined for sexual-offender probation “thereby giving the Victim all of the restrictions and safeguards of sexual offender probation without the duty to register,” according to the memo.
Bassett’s attorneys, according to Singh, noted inconsistencies in Etienne’s testimony. A transcript of her interview with the defense shed more light on the allegations — and on what happened after her aunt and Bassett promised Etienne’s mother that she would be better off living at their home.
Over several hours, Etienne recounted the almost decades-long sexual abuse, telling attorneys she remembered a majority of the incidents but couldn’t recall some of the details she had previously disclosed to detectives, including when was the first time she was sexually battered.
When probed about the inconsistencies, Etienne attributed some of them to her definition of sex. Defense attorneys alluded that the varying accounts were due to Etienne seeking damages in civil court as she filed a lawsuit against Bassett in 2023.
“We would argue it’s her motive to lie,” defense attorney Puglisi said.
For Etienne, Bassett supported her financially because “in the back of his mind he never knew when I was going to or if I would ever say anything.” She also said she came forward decades later because she “realized that I needed to protect those who I could” after getting married and a having a child.
“I knew that it was wrong, but at no point did I know that I had a voice to do anything further with it beyond dealing with it through therapy,” Etienne said in the interview.
‘Justice and accountability’
Etienne, turning to the judge as her “last hope” for justice, recounted how she, as a counselor, secretly grappled with anxiety, guilt and trauma for years. Bassett, she said, made her pinkie promise to keep the abuse a secret, even telling her that if she said anything, he would go to jail and the family would lose everything.
Guiding students at alternative schools, she said, empowered her to come forward. Her professional training exposed how she was groomed, through tactics including isolation, manipulation and threats.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office has ignored her cries for justice, Etienne said. She said the first prosecutor assigned to her case involved her in talks about a possible plea agreement, frequently stayed in touch with her and supported her through the process. The offer discussed, she said, would have included Bassett pleading guilty to the current charges and would have ordered him to register as a sex offender, attend sex offender therapy and be barred from unsupervised contact with minors.
In late 2020, however, she was assigned to a new prosecutor — and quickly felt like she wasn’t being considered at the negotiation table. In discussions about the plea, the state attorney’s office would reference Bassett’s age, she said.
Neither Hoague nor Singh addressed Etienne’s allegations.
The experience, Etienne said, has “reminded me of my lack of voice in this world.”
“All I wanted out of this process was justice and accountability,” she said. “Justice to me means Albert Bassett admits the harm he caused me, pleads guilty to the charges as they stand and has to register as a sex offender.”
After the hearing, Etienne told reporters she was seeking justice for her 9-year-old self.
“While I’m disappointed with the outcome of today’s hearing, I will continue to stand in my truth and be a voice to the voiceless.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2024 at 3:41 PM.
