From Staff Reports
Justin Andrew Busby
A Florida judge sentenced a 23-year-old Greene County man to life in prison last week after a jury found him guilty of Sexual Battery of a Victim under 12.
Justin Andrew Busby, of 23,of Davy Lane, Lucedale, was found guilty by an Okaloosa County, Fla jury and sentenced by Circuit Judge David Oberliesen to spend the rest of his life in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections. During the trial, jurors heard evidence that Busby sexually abused a 10-year-old female family member while on vacation in the Destin area, and back home in Mississippi, in Dec. 2022 and Jan. 2023. Busby was over 18 at the time of the crimes.
According to a statement from the State Attorney’s Office in Okaloosa County, the victim did not initially disclose the sexual abuse to anyone, but later spontaneously disclosed it to her parents while back in her home in Mississippi.
“Ultimately the defendant minimized his actions but did not deny the child’s allegations,” the press release stated.
The investigation into the sexual abuse was conducted by local law enforcement agencies in Okaloosa County, Fla. and George County, with assistance from the Canopy House Child’s Advocacy Center in Mississippi.
Busby was also arrested on May 5, 2023, for abuse that allegedly happened in Mississippi between January-April, of that year. The alleged crimes reportedly involved the victim from the Florida case and an 8-year-old sibling. In February 2024 a George County grand jury indicted him on one count of sexual battery of a victim under 14 and two counts of lustful touching of a minor.
“The Mississippi case will be on hold until after his appeals are exhausted in Florida,” George Huffman, Assistant District Attorney of Mississippi’s 19th Judicial District, told the Herald on Monday. “After his appeals are completed, a decision will be made on how to proceed in light of his life sentence in Florida.”
