More information is surfacing on why the man who is accused of molesting a 12-year old girl at Oscar Patterson Elementary was released from the Florida State Hospital, where he was committed by the courts based on similar sexual offense charges from a 2009 case.
In an interview with News 13 on Wednesday, State Attorney Glenn Hess says the Department of Children and Families released the defendant from the Florida State Hospital without a court order.
While there was no court order, DCF says when charges are dropped, like they were in the 2009 case, they have no more legal authority to keep someone.
Now, the State Attorney is saying there was an expectation that when the defendant was released, he would be returned to a facility in Georgia were was committed after an even earlier case.
32-year old Quanzda Hillsman, the man charged last month with the molestation of a 12-year old girl at Oscar Patterson Elementary, has a history of similar sexual offense charges dating back to 1998. After an incident in 2009, Hillsman was committed to the Florida State Hospital.
The State Attorney's Office dismissed the charges against Hillsman because he was found mentally incompetent to proceed and there was not expectation that he would restore competency.
By dismissing the case, the DCF says the Florida State Hospital is no longer legally bound to keep that person, even though they say the hospital's records indicate that continued treatment could help.
"In this particular case we indicated that Mr. Hillsman could be restored to competency. That is, we thought through treatment and medication, we thought he could be restored to a state in which he could go face his charges. Meanwhile, those charges were dropped, and at that point, the Florida State Hospital has no legal authority to maintain custody of an individual," says Joe Follick, the communications director with the Department of Children and Families.
The State Attorney's Office, however, believes the past records show no chance of improvement.
"At the time of the hearing, there was a possibility that he would get better, but we also had ten years of medical records. Doctor after doctor said this is not something he can recover from," says Hess.
Hess says his office dismissed the charges from 2009, releasing him from the hospital, with the expectation that Hillsman's mother would take him back to the hospital in Georgia where he had a civil commitment from an earlier case.
"The understanding was with the defense attorney, the prosecute and the judge," says Hess. Hess says she did not follow these instructions. "We are going to look at her responsibility for went on. This is just one more thing."
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