Pringle v. State
Pringle v. State
Opinion of the Court
Clarence Pringle was accused of sexually molesting a young teenage girl while her family and his were on a weekend campout together. He was tried before a jury on two counts: sexual battery on a person twelve years of age or older, a second-degree felony violation of section 794.011(5), Florida Statutes (2006); and lewd and lascivious molestation, a second-degree felony violation of section 800.04(5)(a), Florida Statutes (2006). He was found guilty of both counts, declared a sexual predator, and sentenced to fifteen years’ incarceration on the first count only. He appeals, raising ten issues related to the conviction and two issues relating to the sentence. We affirm the conviction without discussion of the issues relating to it. We reverse the sentence and the sexual predator designation and remand for resentencing.
As to Mr. Pringle’s designation as a sexual predator, the State concedes that the record is incomplete and does not show whether Mr. Pringle’s predicate offenses qualify him as a sexual predator under section 775.21(4)(a), Florida Statutes (2006). See Castaneda v. State, 922 So.2d 451 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006); Hickey v. State, 915 So.2d 663 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). Therefore, we vacate the sexual predator designation and remand for resentencing without prejudice to the State to provide evidence that Mr. Pringle has the predicate offenses.
Conviction affirmed, sentence and sexual predator designation reversed, and cause remanded for resentencing.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.