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Florida father says son saved alleged molester’s life

Posted at 9:10 PM, Jul 22, 2014
and last updated 2014-07-22 21:31:08-04

(CNN) — A Florida father who beat his 11-year-old son’s alleged molester unconscious before calling 911 told a CNN affiliate that his son is a hero and that the youngster is the only reason the man is alive.

“My immediate feeling was to kill him, so he will never hurt anyone again,” the father told CNN affiliate WESH.

The father, who CNN is not identifying, told Volusia County emergency dispatch Friday that 18-year-old Raymond Frolander was close to the family and was in the apartment while the father was out.

When he got home, the father said, he saw Frolander with the boy. Frolander’s pants fell down to his ankles “and nothing else needed to be said” when he saw exposed genitals, the dad said.

Frolander, who is being held in Volusia County Jail without bond, faces a charge of sexual battery of a child. The father told WESH that Frolander is lucky that’s all he is facing.

“My son saved Raymond. Raymond was motionless on our floor. I went to the kitchen to grab a butcher knife, and my son stopped me. My son came in front of me and saved his attacker’s life,” said the father.

According to the charging affidavit, the 11-year-old victim told authorities that Frolander had performed oral sex on him and instructed the boy to fondle him. The document says the boy told authorities that Frolander began abusing him a few years ago. It also says Frolander told police, “I’m guilty.”

An official in the criminal division of the Volusia County Clerk’s Office told CNN this is a confidential case because of the age of the victim, so no public record of the suspect’s plea or attorney’s name is available.

On the 911 call, the father explained that Frolander was breathing, but not speaking, “in a puddle of blood” on the floor. He added, “I loved him up until 15 minutes ago.”

At times, the dad is heard talking to the suspect, at one point saying, “You are damn lucky, boy, that I love my God.”

The father has not been charged, and when CNN affiliate CFN 13 asked Daytona Beach Police Chief Michael Chitwood whether he had any issue with the father’s reaction, he responded Friday, “Not as a police chief and not as a father.”

Chitwood had a starkly different reaction this week to news that the father had published his son’s photo on the Internet with a plea for cash.

After the boy’s assault and his attacker’s beating became national news, the father reportedly posted the photo on Facebook saying he needed $1 million to pay for the boy’s care after the assault. He also set up a GoFundMe page, which Chitwood derided as a “disaster.”

As of Tuesday morning, the GoFundMe link on the Facebook page directed visitors to a page asking for help saving a mother of four from being evicted. GoFundMe said in a statement that its privacy policy prevented it from divulging whether a user’s page had gone live, but Chitwood confirmed he had seen it.

“My detectives and I went and looked at it. It was requesting 1 million dollars,” he said. “It’s out of control. Somebody’s thinking ‘We’re going to cash in on this.’ I didn’t get it.”

Chitwood also expressed concern that the victim could suffer additional psychological stress as a result of his dad’s actions.

“He’s a parent. He has to do what he thinks is right, but from a law enforcement perspective, we go through great lengths to protect identity of sex assault victims. There are psychological problems that come from being a victim. To put the kid out there is a disaster,” he said. “I’ve been doing this 27 years. I’ve never seen anything like this.”