VIERA — For five years, the Palm Bay couple considered Gary Sebastian, the father of their 14-year-old daughter’s best friend, a close acquaintance, trusted to protect their child during the girls’ weekend sleepovers or to hang out at their home during get-togethers.

So, they were stunned when they discovered last summer that 41-year-old Sebastian had been sending their daughter inappropriate text messages, mailed her a package filled with sex-related items and provided her with alcohol on at least one occasion.

And they weren’t satisfied Wednesday when a judge sentenced the former Palm Bay firefighter to three and a half years in prison and five years of sex offender probation.

“When I think back to all the weekends he spent with my one daughter, it makes me sick,” said the girl’s mother, whose name Florida Today will not reveal to protect the girl’s identity. “It makes me angry that the actions of Mr. Sebastian make all my kids question people they’re supposed to trust — firefighters, police, people of authority they’re supposed to be able to go to for help.”

Police said Sebastian began phoning and sending the teen text messages referencing sex acts in May. The girl’s mother discovered the contact a month later when Sebastian sent the girl a package containing a sex toy, condoms, a camera and cigarettes.

Later, during a phone call monitored by police, Sebastian told the girl how to operate the toy and what type of photos to take of herself, reports show.

Under a plea deal, Sebastian faced up to five years in prison on two counts of solicitation of a child by electronic device and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Sebastian and his relatives asked Circuit Judge Jim Earp to sentence him Wednesday to probation only, citing Sebastian’s lack of prior record, cooperation with police and more than 21 years of public service as a firefighter. Attorney John Albert argued that the victim was a willing participant in that she did nothing to stop the communication.

Sebastian said he has lost everything, including his career. He resigned in July and has been unable to find work, he said.

“I’d been drinking and just didn’t have my head on straight,” he said Wednesday. “There’s no excuse for it. I’m sorry for the pain and aggravation I’ve caused everyone. I made a mistake, and it’s one I’ll never make again.”

But prosecutor Kari McKay said Sebastian misused the trust the girl’s family and his own children had in him.

She also cited a West Melbourne case that prosecutors agreed not to pursue under the plea deal. In that case, which occurred about a month before the Palm Bay case, officers initially did not arrest Sebastian but told him to “get help” for sending texts to another 14-year-old friend of his daughter, attorneys said.

BY KEYONNA SUMMERS, Florida Today

Tags: alcohol, arrest, author, best, camera, child, children, communication, drinking, father, firefighter, firefighters, Florida, girl, identity, ill, illness, judge, kids, mother, name, offender, Palm Bay, photos, plea, police, prison, probation, resigned, sex, sick, teen, teens, toys, Viera

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 8:39 am and is filed under Courts, Crime. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.