prominent retired Ohio dentist, accused of grabbing two boys on Lely Barefoot Beach and forcing one to perform oral sex, pleaded no contest today to a felony sex charge.
The plea by Dr. David Rees Sperry, 68, of 14595 Glen Eden Drive in Naples, averted a trial in which he would have used an insanity defense to claim his Parkinson's and dementia medications made him unaware of his actions.
Sperry pleaded no contest to lewd and lascivious battery, rejecting any plea bargains that would have capped his sentence. Instead, he left his fate in the hands of Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt.
The second-degree felony charge, which involves a 14-year-old boy, carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in a state prison.
A second sexual battery charge was dropped by the prosecution in February and involved an 18-year-old boy who said he fled after Sperry grabbed him.
Sperry will have a sentencing hearing Wednesday, when the medical experts who would have testified at his trial will present testimony in an effort to seek a more lenient sentence, such as probation and house arrest.
Sperry was arrested on April 3, 2007, and has been free on $50,000 bond ever since. The boy told deputies Sperry grabbed him as he looked for lizards along a beach trail and forced him to perform oral sex. Deputies searched Sperry’s backpack and found two see-through male bathing suits, a condom, suntan lotion, and tooth picks.
Sperry denied the allegations until the State Attorney's Office received the DNA test results, which showed Sperry's DNA, Assistant State Attorney Steve Maresca told the judge last week. Maresca said that was when defense attorney Amira Fox filed a motion to proceed on an insanity defense and Sperry began frequent visits to doctors.
Defense attorney Jerry Berry, who is co-counsel, spent 20 minutes questioning Sperry, whose decline in health has been apparent in court. Berry needed to show Sperry fully understood the plea. He appeared confused at times.
"My mind is not working well," Sperry said at one point, sitting at the defense table and holding a cane as the boy sat in the back of the court with his mother. "... I felt that there's some definite limitations, as far as the ability to understand."
He explained his decision to plead and accept responsibility. "This defense, probably a jury might not have the capability to understand," he said, citing all the medical experts who would have testified he was involuntarily intoxicated by Mirapex and L-dopa and was unaware of his actions.
The judge asked, "Do you understand the court will hear all that evidence now?"
"Yes, sir. I think that's wonderful," Sperry replied.
He was fingerprinted, provided a DNA sample, and left with his wife and attorneys.
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