[PHOTO CREDIT: iStock / Andrei_Andreev]
[Original Publish Date: 04/13/20]
TAVARES, Florida — The charge against a landlord who was arrested earlier this month for exposure of sexual organs has been dropped, according to a document filed in the case last week.
The “announcement of no information” filed with the Lake County clerk of court by Assistant State Attorney Walter Forgie states, “There is competent evidence that the defendant displayed his buttocks; however, there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt that a sexual organ was exposed.”
On April 3, Leesburg responded to a home on Depot Lane twice, first on a request for a standby, due to a landlord-tenant dispute. The alleged victim told police Billy Lee Faile, 59, was trying to evict her without following proper procedures and enters her home without permission. Police told Faile to stay in his yard or leave the property, according to an arrest affidavit. He was advised to give a timely notice before entering the victim’s home and to evict the woman the proper way, through the court system. Both parties agreed to stay on their own property and police left.
In a Facebook message to Lake Legal News’ Editor-in-Chief Marilyn Aciego, Faile stated, “I was only trying to give her the eviction notices… not trying to evict her.”
The second time police were called back at to the residence, the victim said she arrived home to find Faile sitting on the side of her home repairing a leak. He then turned off her air conditioner and padlocked it. The victim asked Faile to leave and he allegedly refused and attempted to take a water hose hooked up to the victim’s home. She told police the hose has been connected to her home for about two years and Faile was just being “vindictive towards her because he does not like her current boyfriend that (sic) visits the residence,” the affidavit states.
While being recorded, Faile pulled down his pants and exposed his buttocks to the victim and her boyfriend, according to the affidavit. Police questioned Faile and he admitted pulling down his pants; he told officers it was legal for him to get completely naked in the yard because it was private property. The yard is visible to two businesses and traffic on West Main Street, the arresting officer noted in the affidavit.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
