Student accused of sex act with underage girl

A Sanford teen was arrested after a girl claimed he forced her to perform oral sex on him in a Seminole High School stairwell, according to police.

Brandon L. Hughes, 18, was arrested Wednesday on a lewd or lascivious battery charge. The girl’s age was redacted from a police report, but the charge indicates she is 16 or younger.

The girl told authorities she was walking in the stairwell Sept. 25 after finishing a test when a man grabbed her by the top of her head and forced her to perform a sex act, the report says.

The girl told police she did not know the man, but recognized him from gym class last year. Sanford police officers were able to identify Hughes after reviewing surveillance footage. Police say the video shows the pair talking before heading under staircase.

According to the report, the video shows the pair were in the stairwell for about 15 minutes. At one point, Hughes “forcefully” put his hand on the girl’s head and pushed her down toward his midsection, though she pulled away, the report said. Later, she appeared to “bend over toward” him, police said.

Police said Hughes and the girl the came into and out of the camera’s view during the recording. The report does not indicate that a sex act was captured by the camera.

The girl told a school counselor and friends, and the incident was reported to a school resource officer the next day, authorities said.

Hughes told police he met with the victim near the elevator before she suggested they go down the stairs, then told him she liked him and began touching him. He initially denied that a sex act occurred, but later admitted to it, saying he did not force her, police said.

After his arrest, Hughes’ mother, Cynthia Hall, said the video doesn’t show evidence of Hughes doing anything wrong.

“Brandon has a mental illness problem, but that’s not Brandon’s character,” Hall said Thursday morning.