A Groveland man was sentenced to life behind bars for sexually battering a victim in 2022.
Lake County jurors found 42-year-old Christopher Lee England, guilty last week of sexual battery and burglary of a dwelling while armed. After the verdict, Judge Eddy, who presided over the case, determined England met the legal qualifications of a prison releasee reoffender and sentenced the defendant to life in prison.
England was arrested in June 2022 following a Mascotte Police Department investigation after law enforcement officials received a call from the victim indicating that England entered a home and committed sexual battery.
During their investigation, officials learned the victim awoke during the middle of the night to a masked figure holding a knife to her throat. The intruder then proceeded to play a recording with a distorted voice threatening the woman. One of the two children who were also sleeping in the same bed with the victim began to awake. At that time, the intruder removed his mask.
England then forced the victim alone into another separate room where he threatened to kill the victim and the victim’s family. He then proceeded to sexually batter the woman before fleeing. Detectives also learned that the defendant was released from prison just six months before this incident for a kidnapping case involving the same woman in Polk County.
An arrest warrant was issued for England. The United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force located him in Winter Haven and took him into custody after a brief standoff with law enforcement.