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It took 14 years for a woman to get justice, but just as Roger Leon Dodson was to head to trial on capital sexual battery charges Tuesday morning, he accepted a plea bargain to avoid a possible conviction and life in prison.

Dodson, 44, a trucker extradited from Missouri, pleaded no contest to lewd and lascivious battery and was sentenced by Collier Circuit Judge Frank Baker to the maximum sentence for the second-degree felony — 15 years in a state prison.

The crime involved fondling a 7-year-old girl in Naples as he babysat her one night in November 1994. He was charged with capital sexual battery. Dodson will get credit for about two years’ time since his June 2006 arrest and extradition from Missouri and his arrival in Collier County jail on Sept. 26, 2006.

The case didn’t come to trial until now because Dodson had been arrested twice before on the arrest warrant, but fought extradition once and authorities didn’t get a governor’s warrant quickly enough and he wasn’t extradited after a second arrest. The lead detective has since died and other witnesses couldn’t be located.

The plea agreement was negotiated by Assistant State Attorney Deborah Schwartz and defense attorney Beverly Brennan, and allows Dodson to avoid life in prison and sex-offender probation.

Before sentencing, Schwartz read two victim-impact statements by the victim’s mother and the woman, now 21. Due to the sexual nature of the crime, their names and some details are being withheld by the Daily News.

“Roger Dodson placed my daughter in a life sentence of shame, fear and distrust — her sense of happiness, family and trust shattered by his actions,” Schwartz read as the women sat in court. “She will never be able to erase the horror he brought to her life until justice is done. I pray the courts honor her and keep this monster locked away so that he never shatters the life of another child. He needs to feel the burden that he placed on her.”

The victim said that until Dodson’s arrest two years ago, she’d constantly looked over her shoulder, fearing he could be there.

“I’ve been haunted for 12 years by this cloud of fear,” the victim wrote, referring to the 12 years before Dodson was arrested and extradited. “I have problems being able to get close to people. I am afraid of men and I’m very uncomfortable in my own skin, having the knowledge that Roger walked around free for 12 years after the disgusting actions he made.”

Schwartz said the plea was in everyone’s best interests.

“We felt this was the best resolution, given the fact this was a 1994 case,” Schwartz said. “Unfortunately, because this case is so old, we have a witness who is deceased and others we were not able to locate.”

Brennan called it a fair resolution for Dodson, who had gone through one attorney before she took the case.

“I am very pleased that he didn’t have to risk life in prison,” Brennan said of the plea. “He believes that this plea is in everyone’s best interests, especially (the victim’s), because she didn’t have to testify.”

If it had gone to trial, jurors would have heard a 1994 audiotape of the child describing what occurred as she was interviewed by a Child Advocacy Team member, as well as the victim’s testimony. But they wouldn’t have heard from Collier County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Ken VanTine, who died at age 39, less than three years after he wrote reports saying Dodson confessed.

His sworn affidavit gives this account:

The girl told her mother Dodson had touched her between her legs and rubbed her underneath her underwear while he was babysitting her the night of Nov. 2, 1994. She said he stopped when he heard a car arrive, signaling the return of a friend. She said she was scared, it hurt, but she said nothing to Dodson.

The mother called deputies the next day. A medical exam showed no signs of sexual abuse, but that was consistent with allegations of only touching.

Dodson voluntarily came in on Nov. 10 and admitted touching the girl as she snuggled against him, then realized what he’d done and pulled away. He denied touching her beneath her clothing, but said, “I felt grossed out, about an inch tall.”

Five days later, Dodson came in again to say he hadn’t told the entire truth and confessed he had fondled her and said it was possible that he “may have” digitally penetrated her — that there was “a good chance” he had. Asked if the girl was lying about what occurred, he told the detective, “I’d say no.”