House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, who has taken a personal interest in the effort, called the apology resolution “a good, solid minimum first step,” after meeting with the Dozier victims.
“We hope that there will be some degree of healing and closure that can take place, knowing it is being recognized,” Corcoran said. “But the most important part is that it never happens again to anybody else.”
Corcoran also said one of the Dozier officials who is accused of abusing boys is still alive.
“We went through every machination to try to figure out how we could still prosecute him and bring justice,” Corcoran said. “We’re not going to give up yet.”
Corcoran said he became involved in the case after meeting Erin Kimmerle, a University of South Florida forensic anthropologist who led a team that investigated the Dozier site, identifying 55 burial sites, 24 more than had been officially recorded.
Kimmerle’s team was able to identify some of the buried remains and return them to surviving family members. Other unclaimed remains will be reburied in Tallahassee, according to the pending House legislation.
