Adoptive father found guilty of lewd assault

Adoptive father found guilty of lewd assault

Sep 29, 1989

St. Petersburg Times

WEST PALM BEACH - David Allen Lindsey Sr., the first single man in Florida allowed to adopt children, was found guilty Thursday of two counts of lewd assault on a 14-year-old boy.

Lindsey was found innocent on five other charges, including kidnapping.

Lindsey still faces a host of other charges for allegedly assaulting at least four of his adopted sons and one of their friends.

Thursday's verdict came after 17 hours of deliberations by a six-member Palm Beach County jury. The 45-year-old cabinetmaker was then led to the county jail to await a bail hearing Friday.

Circuit Judge Thomas Sholts did not set a sentencing date. Lindsey faces up to five years in prison, said Assistant State Attorney Steve Cupp.

Lindsey was accused of molesting the boy in a park in March 1987.

Lindsey's attorney, Richard Lubin, had said in closing arguments Wednesday that the boy, now 16, was not trustworthy.

``He told so many different stories ... that I had a hard time even organizing an argument,`` Lubin said. ``He cried crocodile tears and was emotional when he was lying. ... He is not reliable.``

Prosecutors, though, say the boy changed stories because he was scared.

Lindsey took 11 boys into his Boynton Beach home between 1973 and 1987. Brothers ages 7 and 12 were awaiting adoption and living with Lindsey when he was arrested in June 1987 and charged with six counts of sexually assaulting four of his adopted sons and several of their friends.

Lindsey has said he is innocent in all the cases. But in March 1988 he agreed to plead guilty to molesting two boys - one an adopted son - in exchange for 10 years' probation.