Alleged abusive Cape Coral father pleads not guilty

BEN BRASCH   | BBRASCH@NEWS-PRESS.COM

A Cape Coral father in Lee County jail on a nearly $500,000 bond pleaded not guilty Friday to his several sexual and harmful child abuse charge.

Daniel Spurgeon faces 15 counts, including sexual assault and lewd and lascivious behavior on a child between ages 12 and 18 as well as several counts of aggravated child abuse.

His 52-year-old wife, Jenise Spurgeon, was released on $300,000 bond for her 10 counts of aggravated child abuse.

Daniel Spurgeon waived a formal reading of his charges. He has has retained Fort Myers attorney Aaron O'Brien, who was not available Friday.

The investigation started when three teenage girls were reported to officers as being extremely intoxicated at a KFC. They told officers they lived with their adoptive/foster parents and seven other adopted/foster children and that Daniel Spurgeon had given them the alcohol, according to the narrative. They went on to detail being sexually and physically abused by Daniel Spurgeon.

Beyond the mental trauma, officers found that the children hadn't been to a doctor nor a dentist in years and that most of them had scabies.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “Scabies is spread easily to sexual partners and household members. Scabies in adults frequently is sexually acquired. Scabies sometimes is spread indirectly by sharing articles such as clothing, towels, or bedding used by an infested person; however, such indirect spread can occur much more easily when the infested person has crusted scabies.”