A digital forensic examiner who works for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was deposed by the legal team representing an Ocala step mother who is accused of having sex with her teenage stepson.
On Thursday, defense attorneys for Alexis Von Yates took the deposition of Jesse Newbanks, a Senior Digital Forensic Examiner for the sheriff’s office. Yates is represented by Lee Fairchild of Ocala-based law firm Sparrow & Fairchild.
Newbanks joined MCSO in 2017. Since then, he has been steadily growing the sheriff’s office’s digital forensics lab. According to the sheriff’s office, Newbanks and his team have played a “crucial role in multiple investigations that” have resulted in the imprisonment of multiple child predators.
Earlier this year, Yates’ attorneys requested a continuance to allow their team the opportunity to conduct depositions and build a defense for their client. That continuance was granted by Judge Timothy T. McCort of the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Marion County on February 16.
The details of the deposition have not been disclosed. Yates, who pleaded not guilty to the charge in December, was originally scheduled for her pretrial conference in February and jury selection in March.
The court docket in the case shows several dates for the trial and pretrial conference. Additionally, a deposition is scheduled for Frank Yates for sometime this June.
According to an arrest report filed late last year, Yates was allegedly caught having sex with her stepson by her husband in July 2024.
At the end of July 2024, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous tip that a woman, later identified as Yates, had “engaged in unlawful sexual activity” with her husband’s biological son.
On August 30, 2024, nearly a month after the alleged incident occurred, the victim was interviewed by a specialist at a local child advocacy center. During that interview, the victim stated that he was visiting his father in Marion County while on summer vacation and had engaged in “sex” with his stepmother while his father was at work.
At that time, the victim provided several vivid descriptions regarding explicit interactions and conversations he had with Yates leading up to the alleged sexual encounter.
According to the arrest report, several of the victim’s relatives discouraged him from disclosing what allegedly occurred with Yates.
At the time of the incident, the victim stated that he was “infatuated” with his stepmother and had asked her if she wanted to “cuddle” on the couch. The victim described how the interaction soon escalated into kissing before it became sexual.
The victim then described the alleged sexual encounter with Yates in graphic detail, which came to an end when his biological father – Yates’ husband – entered the home. The victim proceeded to run into another room, and his father confronted Yates while she was naked on the couch, according to the report.
The day after the incident, the victim stated that he called Yates. During that phone conversation, she allegedly spoke highly about their alleged sexual encounter and mentioned that she wished his father hadn’t caught them.
According to the victim, Yates commented on the child’s penis size and indicated that it looked like his father’s penis “with younger skin.” Yates allegedly told the victim she could tell he had “been around the block” and gave him a “sexual rating of seven out of ten.”