Sex acts were part of a game

May 8, 2003
Jack Alberto York took the witness stand Tuesday to defend himself against charges he molested three young girls.

It was an unusual defense: He admitted he fondled the girls and had them perform oral sex on him.

But, he said, it was their idea.

York, 39, of Land O'Lakes, could be sentenced to life in prison if he is convicted of the five counts of capital sexual battery, and three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct. The jury of four women and two men is expected to get the case today. Testimony presented Tuesday buried York in a flurry of allegations, and the only defense he offered was his own testimony.

York confessed to a Pasco County sheriff's deputy days after the allegations surfaced, and a tape of that conversation played in court Tuesday before he took the stand.

York, on tape, said everything started March 10, 2002, with what he thought was going to be an innocent game of "truth or dare," a game in which children either dare each other to perform stunts or challenge each other to reveal a secret.

He was with three girls: two 10-year-olds and a 9-year-old.

One of the 10-year-olds dared him to expose his genitals, York said. He did, and the girl dared herself to perform oral sex, York said. The others followed, he said.

"I just thought it was going to be a harmless children's game," York said Tuesday. "I just didn't think about it. My mind was somewhere else. . . . If I had it to do all over again, I would've said "no'." York said Tuesday one of the girls had trouble making friends, so he went along with the game to help her stay friends with the others. He said he had been drinking alcohol. He said he had been taking pain pills for his back. Unlike most defendants, who appear for trial in a suit, York was in his jail-issue jumpsuit and ankle shackles. His public defender, Tom Hanlon, told Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb that reassuring jurors that York has been in jail might make them less inclined to convict him. The three girls, whose names the Times is withholding because of the nature of the allegations, testified Tuesday, each providing a similar account, each pointing out York in the courtroom. York listened to the testimony, whispering to Hanlon at times. He wept during one child's testimony, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his jumpsuit. Hanlon said York rejected his attempts to negotiated a 25-year plea deal. In a letter to two of the girls' mother, York asked her not to let the girls testify and said he was hoping for a 15-year sentence. Prosecutor Stacey Sumner rested the state's case Tuesday afternoon. Closing arguments are scheduled for today.