[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 01/06/21]
LEESBURG, Florida — “Thirty seconds is a long time after someone says stop.”
Those were some of the words a victim spoke to her accused rapist in a recorded phone call last month after telling Leesburg Police the man forced himself on her, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The victim, whose age is unknown, told police she was at a party on Nov. 25 and around 2 a.m. on Nov. 26, Eric Daniel Coffie, 25, said he was going to go pick up food and more drinks, according to a probable cause affidavit. The victim was concerned that Coffie had been drinking and offered to ride with him, she told an LPD detective.
The pair went to a local fast food restaurant and then Coffie drove her to an empty parking lot in Leesburg where he told her he was supposed to meet someone. Coffie began talking to the victim and complimenting her and she laughed it off because she had never “thought about him that way,” she told police. Coffie allegedly touched her thigh and she pushed him away and attempted to get out of the locked vehicle. Coffie, of Yalaha, pulled the victim by her left arm and she fell into the backseat while trying to get away from him, the affidavit states.
Coffie climbed on top of her and held her down, and when she tried to escape, Coffie is alleged to have grabbed the victim’s wrists and held them above her head before pulling her shorts down and raping her. The victim told him no several times and told him to stop, but Coffie kept saying he was almost finished, according to the affidavit.
When he finally stopped, he just stared at her, the victim said and then began to apologize. The victim took out her phone and began to record their conversation. During three separate recordings, the detective heard a male’s voice say, “I said I’m sorry, I really shoulda stopped. I’m sorry I didn’t.” The victim could be heard saying, “You didn’t stop when I kept saying stop.” The male also said, “I was just drunk, just trying to finish, just trying to get my (expletive) and I wasn’t listening.”
After the rape, Coffie drove to a convenience store and bought alcoholic beverages and then went back to the party, the victim told LPD. After returning to the party, the victim went into a bedroom and went to sleep. She did not shower before contacting police and turned her clothing over to an officer, the affidavit states.
The victim called Coffie while police recorded the call that lasted 13 minutes and 37 seconds. The following is an excerpt from that call.
“Do you realize the amount of times I had to say stop? Like when I said ‘stop’ you kept going. Don’t you think you should have stopped when I said stop,” the victim asked Coffie.
“Yeah,” Coffie said in the recorded call.
“How long did it take you to realize I was serious and was telling you to stop,” she asked.
“I only did a couple of more strokes and then I stopped,” Coffie said.
“Even after I said stop though,” the victim responded.
“It wasn’t like I was going for a long (expletive) time, it was maybe like 30 seconds, then I stopped,” he said.
“Thirty seconds is a long time after someone says stop,” the victim said.
Some of the conversation was unintelligible and Coffie attempted to suggest the sex was consensual in the beginning, the detective noted in the affidavit.
A warrant was issued for Coffie’s arrest Monday and he was arrested later that day for sexual battery on a victim over 12. He was released the same day from the Lake County Jail on $25,000 bond.
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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]
