A Riverside man will spend the next three years behind bars after pleading guilty Tuesday to lewd molestation of a minor.
JSO arrested Ethan Todd in November 2017 after he was accused of molesting his teenage neighbor over the course of two years. The victim told police the sexual contact began during sleepovers with Todd's children. She described costumes Todd forced her to wear and pornographic videos he showed her, items recovered by police in Todd's home during his arrest.
According to the terms of Todd's plea deal, he'll serve 42 months in prison and five years on probation. A Duval County judge explained in court Tuesday the terms of the probation include a curfew, limitations on where he can reside and required registry as a sex offender.
Todd had previously been out of jail on bond while the case litigated for nearly a year.
Todd showed little emotion in court and declined to make any statements when asked by the judge.
The victim's mother told the judge she agreed with the plea terms because she feared a trial may set back her daughter's progress in coping with what happened.
"As her parents, we believe that going through a deposition and trial would be too traumatic," the mother said.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped four of the five counts against Todd including two counts of sexual battery, one count of showing obscene material to a minor, and an additional count of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim between 12 and 16 years old.
Earlier this year, First Coast News investigated a prior complaint against Todd filed by his nanny in 2007.
In the JSO report from the complaint, the nanny tried turning Todd in for allegedly possessing child pornography on his computer. No arrest or charges were made after the report and JSO said the case was closed, despite a lack of documentation explaining why.
At the time, the nanny who asked to remain anonymous believed if her report had been better investigated, it may have protected Todd's 2017 victim.
"Had there been some kind of warning or notice to this mom," the former nanny told First Coast News in May. "She would have never let her daughter go over there [to Todd's house]."