The victim in Thursday’s attack didn’t want to go on camera. She’s bruised and battered and still coming to terms with what happened to her. Those who know and love the woman say it’s a miracle she got out a live.
“She’s a fighter,” said friend Wendy Montrose.
Montrose saw the man, identified by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office as Lee Roy Rettley, running away from the victim’s Brooksville apartment.
“I locked my doors, took off after him. Called 911 and told him where he was.”
She said he left behind a bloody scene.
“When I went in to check in on her, she was bleeding from both ears. Broken nose. Blood all over the bedroom, blood all over the living room.”
Deputies, with the help of K9 Diesel, tracked down Rettley hiding in a storm drain at Hernando High School.
Investigators said Rettley is a registered sexual predator, who just got out of prison in February.
Sexual predators have usually been convicted of a sexually violent event. He was in prison for failing to register.
Rettley was convicted of sexual battery going back to 1987 in South Florida involving a victim under 12-years-old. But here he was again Thursday attacking a woman.
Deputies said he beat the victim, choked her, tore her clothes off and threatened to kill her.
She was finally able to scare him off by fighting back, hitting him with a box.
“Without revealing too much, we did observe some injuries to him that were caused by her,” said Detective Brian Stevens.
The Sheriff’s Office said while this was an isolated case, it’s a good reminder to check Florida’s sex offender website to know who may be living around you.
