- April 18, 2024
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Philip John Maida Jr., 56, pled guilty and was sentenced Nov. 29.
Circuit Judge Raul A. Zambrano sentenced 56-year-old Philip John Maida Jr. Nov. 29 to two consecutive 25-year prison terms for a total of 50 years for abusing two sisters as many as 100 times between 2001 and 2010.
Just before a jury was to be selected to try the case, Maida pled guilty as charged to two counts of sexual activity with a child between 12 and 18 by a person in familial or custodial authority, a first-degree felony.
Assistant State Attorney Ben Fox said the case involved years of on-going sexual abuse to these two family members. The girls said no to Maida’s advances to no avail.
The case came to light when the victims, whose names were withheld by the State Attorney’s Office, were asked by a family friend why they had spent so much time alone with Maida when they were younger. At that point, one sister broke down and disclosed that she had been sexually abused. The second sister made a similar revelation, and they decided in May 2010 to report the incidents to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Further investigation revealed that Maida abused the girls in several locations, including their grandmother’s condominium. He told others he was taking the girls to gun shows as an alibi. Even after the older sister left to attend college, Maida followed her and continued the abuse, sending her lingerie and talking to her as if they were a “loving couple,” according to testimony by one of the sisters.
