Taylor gets life sentence for lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor

Friday morning, 42-year-old James Albert Taylor, Jr. learned his fate when Circuit Judge Terrence R. Perkins rendered his sentence to life in prison for lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor.

Florida’s Prison Release Reoffender sentencing statute allowed Judge Perkins to hand down the life sentence in this case because Taylor was already a registered sex offender with a previous conviction for lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor.

“The defendant is a six-time convicted felon, including a previous sex crime involving a child Victim. Within two years of being released from prison, the defendant perpetrated another sex crime with a different child Victim,” State Attorney R J Larizza told Historic City News.  “This latest case underscores the necessity for him to be in prison for the rest of his life. The community is safer as a result of this man being behind bars.”

In 2013, Taylor entered the room where the child victim slept. He subsequently rubbed the child victim’s breasts. The child victim courageously came forward and told their mother according to court records.

A Flagler County jury convicted Taylor in September 2019 after a three-day trial. Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark prosecuted the State of Florida v. James Albert Taylor, Jr. case and Judge Perkins presided over the case.