Kentucky man gets probation after taking battery plea in Disney incident

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A lack of DNA evidence and the prospect of questionable witness testimony helped a Kentucky man accused of sexual misconduct with a 21-year-old schizophrenic woman stay out of jail.

Judge Cynthia Cox sentenced Farhad Zakerhaghighi, 61, to one-year probation on May 21, months after the defendant plead no contest to misdemeanor battery during a stay at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort.

The man was originally charged with felony sexual battery on a person with a mental defect. That offense comes with a maximum 30-year prison sentence. “I did not go to the extent of what these folks are claiming I have done,” Zakerhaghighi told Judge Cynthia Cox during his sentencing hearing last week. “I am throwing myself at your mercy.”

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