ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge had harsh words for the FBI in Orlando.
He said the agency failed to protect a 14-year-old girl from rape.
The judge stated the agency’s inaction allowed the crime to occur.
Judge Paul Byron expressed his frustration in a federal courtroom, noting that the FBI had been aware of the perpetrator, Mark Sotnick, for years but failed to arrest him.
Sotnick, 48, was sentenced last month to 40 years in prison for his crimes against the girl, which included sexual assault and online harassment.
“Had they done their job, he would have been off the streets, and she would not have been raped. She would not have been brutalized online,” Judge Byron told the FBI, according to a transcript obtained by 9 Investigates.
The judge ordered the FBI to personally apologize to the victim within five days.
He instructed prosecutors to inform the girl about what the FBI investigators did and did not do.
Court documents revealed that Sotnick not only sexually assaulted the underage girl but also tormented her by sending compromising pictures to her friends and family after hacking into her accounts.
Despite Sotnick being on the FBI’s radar for years, no arrest was made until after the crimes had been committed, which led to the judge’s harsh criticism of the agency.
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