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2 Marion County men accept reduced charges in sexual abuse cases

Ocala Star-Banner - 11/2/2020

Nov. 1--Two Marion County men accused of sexually abusing two women in separate incidents pleaded guilty to reduced charges in court on Friday.

The men entered into plea agreements with prosecutors and were given their respective sentences by Circuit Judge Gary B. Sanders.

Christopher Aaron Cauthen, 25, received three years of probation and has to complete a substance abuse evaluation and any recommended treatment on his first attempt at his expense. He also has to complete 100 hours of community service, court records show.

Cauthen, of Anthony, had his adjudication withheld on a charge of felony battery. State Attorney's Office officials did not pursue a charge of sexual battery. He was represented by local attorney James T. Reich.

At the time of his Nov. 7, 2017, arrest, Cauthen admitted to a Marion County Sheriff's Office detective that he removed a woman's clothing and touching her private area while lying in his bed, according to authorities. He said she was sweating heavily and he believed she had passed out.

In June, the victim told a sheriff's deputy about going to a party off County Road 329 where she smoked marijuana and drank alcohol. She said a man assaulted her in a room, deputies said.

The woman said she woke up the next morning and was naked, with Cauthen lying next to her.

Marion County Jail records show he was released on $10,000 bond the same day he was arrested.

In the second case, Charles Wayne Hendrix has to complete five years of probation, undergo a mental health evaluation and successfully finish a batterer's intervention program on his first attempt, according to court records.

Charges of sexual battery and domestic violence by strangulation were dropped by prosecutors in exchange for accepting a charge of felony battery, according to court records. He pleaded no contest and was adjudicated guilty on the charge.

Peter J. Sziklai of the Public Defender's Office was Hendrix's lawyer.

The 39-year-old McIntosh man was arrested in October 2019 when he was accused of choking and forcing a woman to perform oral sex on him, according to a Sheriff's Office report.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a reported sexual assault at a discount store, and took the victim to the Sheriff's Office for an interview.

She said Hendrix was supposed to take her to a Dollar General store, but instead asked for a sexual favor on a side road. She refused and left the vehicle. Hendrix got out, followed her and then sexually assaulted her, officials said.

The woman went to the Dollar General and reported the incident.

A detective interviewed Hendrix, and he said the act was consensual. Hendrix had been jailed without bond since Oct. 24, 2019.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb.

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