A pair of 20-year-old Marion County men were arrested last week after allegedly engaging in sexual activity with two underage girls.
Joshua Jeffrey McIntosh, of Orange Lake, was charged with sexual assault by a person 18 years of age or older on a victim 12 to 18 years old. Willie Dwayne West, of Ocala, was charged with lewd and lascivious behavior by a person 18 years of age or older on a victim 12 to 16 years old.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy responded Tuesday to Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection and remotely observed an interview with a juvenile female victim conducted by a social worker. In the interview, the victim said she became very upset on Monday after thinking back on the events of Saturday, Feb. 22, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The victim said the day of Feb. 22 started like a normal day, with a juvenile female friend having spent the night at her house. She said her father had already left the house by the time the two girls woke up between 8 and 10 a.m. The victim said she and her friend went to the park with West and stayed until around 4:30 p.m. She said she and the other girl smoked marijuana with a dab pen while on the way home, and she became nauseous, the report said.
The victim said she and her friend changed and got ready for church, while McIntosh and West were messing around with them since they knew both girls were out of sorts from smoking marijuana. They played a game that involved the girls going outside, and McIntosh and West locked them out of the house. The girls came back inside through the back door and locked themselves in the victim’s bedroom. McIntosh and West tried to break the door down but stopped after a short time, according to the report.
A short time later, McIntosh and West grabbed the victim’s friend and played around with her for a while. West then entered the victim’s bedroom and told her he wanted to have sex with her. She told him no and tried kicking him away, but she realized she wasn’t kicking very hard due to being under the influence of marijuana, the report said.
The victim said West proceeded to have sex with her against her will while she was still in her bedroom. The victim then heard McIntosh yell, “Switch.” She said West didn’t want to switch, but McIntosh entered her room and had sex with her, despite her attempts to kick him away, according to the report.
West told the victim that if she said anything about what happened, her father would go to jail. She said this made her upset because she enjoys living with her father. The victim said her father arrived home a short time later and asked everyone why they weren’t ready for church, and West told him it was his fault that nobody was ready, the report said.
The victim said West drove her and her friend to church and everyone appeared normal as the victim’s father preached during the service. She said her father cooked breakfast for everyone on Sunday morning and she wanted to tell him about the incident because he kept asking her what was wrong. The victim said she didn’t tell him what happened at that point. She said she didn’t eat any of the food and started crying, according to the report.
The victim asked her father if she and her friend could go to the park, but his truck was having mechanical issues, so he asked West to take the girls to the park instead. The victim said her father returned home later in the day and told her not to lie to him and tell him what happened on Saturday, the report said.
The victim said she disclosed the incident to three cousins on Sunday, then told her stepfather, her mother, and finally her father. She provided the clothing she had been wearing during the incident to a deputy, according to the report
Deputies interviewed the victim’s friend on Tuesday, Feb. 25. She said she engaged in consensual sex with West while McIntosh was in the victim’s bedroom with her. The victim’s friend said she heard the victim saying “no” and “stop” and later saw McIntosh come out of the bedroom. She said she went into the victim’s bedroom and the victim was crying and said she was raped, the report said.
Deputies made contact with McIntosh at the incident location and he did not provide a statement. He was arrested and taken to Marion County Jail without incident.
West voluntarily reported to the sheriff’s office operations center on Thursday, Feb. 27. He told deputies that on the night of the incident, he saw the victim’s friend and McIntosh having consensual intercourse on the couch. He said he went into the victim’s room, where he engaged in consensual intercourse. West said he received verbal consent from the victim and didn’t force himself on her, according to the report.
West said while he was having intercourse with the victim, he heard McIntosh yell, “Switch,” and McIntosh entered the bedroom. West said he then had consensual intercourse with the victim’s friend. He said he didn’t disclose any of the events to the victim’s father out of fear he would retaliate against McIntosh. West was taken to jail without incident, the report said.
McIntosh is being held on $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on March 31. West was released Thursday on $10,000 bond. No court information was available.