VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A former Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University professor convicted of sex crimes on a child has been released from the Volusia County Jail pending an appeal, a decision that angered the Volusia County sheriff.
Mark Fugler was convicted in June for showing pornographic material to a 7-year-old girl and performing sex acts in front of the child. According to court records, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in August.
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He was granted $200,000 bail while he appeals his case, which allowed him to be released from jail this week.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood took to social media Tuesday to express his frustration with the situation.
"He must be the envy of all sex criminals, able to walk free and enjoy the privileges of release on bond thanks to Judge Hutcheson's decision. Most other criminals sentenced to 15 years in prison have to file their appeals from a jail cell," Chitwood wrote on Facebook.
During a news conference Wednesday, Chitwood said the fact that Fugler is free is not fair to the victim's family.
"I'm tired of hearing about the defendant. Screw him. What about the victim and the rest of her life?," Chitwood asked.
He suspects that Fugler's attorneys will delay the legal process by filing repeated appeals.
"They will appeal this thing to death to where he gets to be a certain age and they'll say, 'Now he's too old to go to jail?," Chitwood said.
He asked that Volusia County residents express their opinions on the matter by emailing Chief Judge Raul A. Zambrano and State Attorney R.J. Larizza.