ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A man was arrested Monday, accused of barging into a room at an Orange County hotel and attempting to rape an 18-year-old victim who thought they were opening the door for their boyfriend, an affidavit shows.
The attack happened at Stayable Suites, located at 8700 S. Orange Blossom Trail, where deputies responded around 7 p.m. to interview the victim. After the victim’s boyfriend had left for work around 9 a.m., they told deputies that they believed a light knock on the door between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. was him.
Recommended Videos
The affidavit shows Fredrick Batese Howard, 54, was really the one outside. When the victim opened the door, they told deputies that Howard forced his way into the room after seeing them and saying “Oh yeah.”
Deputies said the victim attempted to close the door, but couldn’t. According to the affidavit, Howard closed the door behind him and forced the victim onto the bed, where he held them down and put his hand over their mouth.
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
The victim managed to scream as Howard reached to unbuckle his pants, at which point the attacker got up and left, deputies said.
Within hours, deputies said they helped the victim identify Howard as the suspect, bringing him in for an interview after 10 p.m. when he was allegedly caught in multiple lies.
Howard claimed he was released from jail less than a week ago “for a violent criminal offense,” what Orange County court records suggest was a case of carjacking with a deadly weapon in Orlando on May 4. Howard’s arrest in the attempted rape prompted a decision to keep him detained without bond in the carjacking case, according to an order filed Tuesday revoking his pretrial release.
Howard was booked minutes after midnight, described in the affidavit as a transient and a high-risk sex offender. News 6 reached out to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement regarding this characterization in order to verify whether Howard was a registered sex offender. We received the following response:
At this time, Fredrick Batese Howard has not been adjudicated guilty of a qualifying offense that would require him to register (as a sex offender).
This may change depending on the final judicial action for his current pending charges in Orange County for attempted sexual battery.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 6/15/2023
He faces charges of attempted sexual battery, burglary of a dwelling, false imprisonment and battery, according to the affidavit.
The heavily-redacted affidavit does not identify the victim beyond their age.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: