Prosecutors: Ronnie Hyde molested at least one other boy before Fred Laster's murder

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — New documents suggest the man charged in a local teen's murder may have victimized at least one other child locally.

Ronnie Hyde was arrested last March for the murder of 16-year-old Fred Laster. The teen's dismembered body was found in Lake City in 1994.

In a notice filed this week, prosecutors say that “on multiple occasions between 1992 and 1994, at various locations within Duval County, Florida, the Defendant committed acts of ‘child molestation’...”

The alleged victim was said to be a male between 12 and 16 years old.

"They're trying to introduce that evidence as an indication that he normally behaves this way," said Action News Jax law and safety expert Dale Carson.

The state says the alleged victim will testify, and that investigators seized lewd images of boys from Hyde’s Jax Beach home.

Hyde was also charged with 12 counts of possession of child pornography.

Carson said whether these new details are true or not, it won’t be easy for prosecutors to tie it in with Laster’s murder.

“That information might be admissible in a child pornography case, but it’s questionable to whether it would be admissible in a homicide case, because there’s no connection,” he said.

Carson expects Hyde’s defense to ask that the homicide and child pornography charges be tried separately.

Hyde is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on Feb. 27.

Cox Media Group