TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — A Tallahassee man who served no jail time for recording a 15-year-old girl using the bathroom is back behind bars after being accused of molesting a 12-year-old girl multiple times.
Gerald Ellis, 41, has been charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious battery after the Tallahassee Police Department was called to a Leon County school on Aug. 30.
Court documents say officers responded to the school for a report of an alleged sexual assault. When they arrived, the principal at the school said another student came to her and reported that a friend of hers had been sexually assaulted.
When they spoke to the 12-year-old victim, she disclosed that she had been molested by Ellis while she was in fifth grade.
The victim went on to explain that the incidents had occurred more than one time, stating that the first time happened at his home inside his room. The victim said Ellis molested her on at least two occasions.
After being asked to recall the last time something like that had happened, documents say the victim stated that Ellis didn't touch her, but setup his phone next to the television. The victim told investigators that it was recording right before the victim and her younger sister went into the shower.
"The victim then told [Ellis] that his phone was ringing and he answered the phone," investigators wrote in the arrest report. "She says she saw him do something to the phone which led her to believe that the suspect deleted the video."
During an investigation, police discovered that Ellis had previously been charged with voyeurism in 2012, when a 15-year-old discovered that he was recording her using the bathroom. Ellis pled no contest to the charges and was sentenced to spend 109 days in Leon County Jail followed by five years of probation.
According to court documents, Ellis was released from jail the same day he was sentenced because he was given credit for spending time in jail prior to sentencing. He was also ordered to complete sex offender screening and any recommended counseling.
Based on the evidence, investigators found probable cause to charge Ellis with lewd or lascivious battery. He was arrested on Thursday at his home on Rickards Road.
He is being held in jail without bond.
