A Florida man who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Winn Dixie grocery store was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Tuesday, according to the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.
Timothy Lynn Hero, 54, was arrested in July of 2017 for sexual assault on a victim between ages 12-18, four counts of lewd and lascivious behavior on a victim between ages 12-16, and one count of cruelty toward a child.
Hero, who worked at Winn Dixie, had developed a cordial relationship with the girl, who was described by detectives as “especially vulnerable” compared to most girls her age — during her family’s previous visits to the store.
Investigators say that security video shows Hero leading the girl into the back of the store and then into the men’s bathroom, where he took her into a stall and sexually assaulted her.
The act was interrupted by the girl’s father, who came looking for his daughter and broke down the door of the stall when he realized what was happening.
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