Christian Peterson
Riverbend News
On Wednesday, Dec. 15, with Judge David W. Fina presiding, 48-year-old Jeremy David Golden, of Live Oak, received his sentence after being found guilty of three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor; one count of lewd and lascivious solicitation of a minor and two counts of child abuse- contributing to the delinquency of a minor. For each charge, the state recommended a minimum of 18.36 years, with a maximum of 60 years, stating they believed Golden to be a manipulative and dangerous man who “used his daughter to get into situations where he can manipulate others.” These statements were made in reference to the incident from which the charges arose, in which Golden had brought alcohol to a party with his daughter's friends, where he attempted to and successfully molested multiple underage girls.
During the sentencing, the state called upon one of the female victims, who will remain unnamed due to her age, to speak in front of the court. Upon approaching and seeing Golden, the victim instead asked the state's attorney to read her written statement to the court. In her statement, the victim said all those on the receiving end of Golden’s crimes were hurt and betrayed by his actions. The statement went on to read that they had given Golden their trust and he had broken it in the worst way possible.
The young woman also brought new information to the courtroom's attention, as she had received Facebook messages from a Brian Christie on Friday, Nov. 19 and Sunday, Nov. 21, just days after Golden was convicted. All the messages implied the victim was lying and was being forced by the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office to lie. The messages stated Christie knew the truth and revealed details that only one would know if they were present during the trial. The victim immediately began taking screenshots of the messages, which she provided to Inv. Chris Lee. After this information was brought to the court's attention, the victim returned to her seat while Inv. Lee stood to further discuss the Facebook messages.
Inv. Lee told the court he first met the victim on Monday, Nov. 22, to discuss the messages. When the phone was presented to the police, the messages had been unsent by Christie. Inv. Lee began to investigate the matter discovered Christie was an inmate alongside Golden. In an interview, Christie admitted to Inv. Lee that he had given Golden his login information and that Golden had used it to contact someone outside the jail. Further investigation revealed the messages had been sent from the only medical laptop, which was the only unsecured laptop on the premises. The court was informed Golden receives breathing treatments every night and that he was the only one present in the medical bay each time a message was sent.
The state then proceeded to call Golden's daughter to speak. After a few minutes of looking at her father, she was overcome with emotion and chose to take her seat. It should be noted that Golden's daughter was not identified as being a victim.
Next, the state called a family friend to the stand. In her statement, the young woman simply told Golden she had accepted him into her life as a surrogate father.
After her statement, Jessica, the mother of a third victim, stood to speak. “You are incapable of love,” Jessica said. “I don't hate you, I pity you.” After voicing her thoughts, Jessica then turned to Judge Fina and requested Golden received the severest punishment possible.
Lisa, another victim's mother, also stood to speak to Golden. “We will all be laughing as you rot in Hell,” Lisa said. She then also requested Golden receive the harshest punishment possible.
The last person to address the courtroom was Golden, himself. In a quiet tone, Golden apologized for his crimes to Judge Fina, but not to the victims or their families. Golden then made it a point to say he was confused why his past of good work and help in the community was not brought into conversation during the trial, claiming the party being referred to in the case was an isolated incident. He also explained that he has a legitimate medical issue called basal cell carcinoma.
As Judge Fina prepared to present his sentence, he acknowledged there are other charges pending against Golden. Judge Fina told Golden he was a horrible individual, even going so far as to call him a child predator. He then told Golden he owed $11,220 in fines and would serve a grand total of 33.72 years in prison- 15.86 years for the three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor, which would run concurrent to each other; 15.86 years to follow consecutively after for the one count of lewd and lascivious solicitation of a minor and two years for two counts of child abuse- contributing to the delinquency of a minor.