Rape Arrest Stuns Neighbors

TAMPA - Most Tampa Bay area residents see 18-year-old Eric James Tate as the man suspected of raping a baby who later died. But some neighbors recall a gangly, bushy-haired kid who used to ride up and down their street on his bike and who volunteered to light fireworks on Independence Day. Tate has not been charged with the death of the child, said Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway. "The investigation is continuing," he said Friday afternoon. But Tate has been charged with capital sexual battery and remained in the Orient Road Jail on Friday. Bail had not been set. Deputies said Tate had worked at a relative's licensed day care center on and off recently. Detectives spent Friday interviewing parents of children enrolled there to determine whether there were any signs of abuse.

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