Man gets 10 years for Seminole Wekiva Trail sexual battery attack

Patrick Gamache’s 10-year prison term means the man tied to a violent sexual battery on the Seminole Wekiva Trail will be out of the trail system for years, then face two more years of sex-offender probation, GPS monitoring and mandatory registration when he is released.

A Seminole County judge on Tuesday rejected Gamache’s final attempt to pull back his no-contest plea, a move that could have changed the outcome after months of court proceedings. The ruling kept the case on track for sentencing and left in place the punishment prosecutors sought for the attack on a woman walking the popular corridor in unincorporated Altamonte Springs.

Gamache, 20, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with credit for 275 days already served, followed by two years of sex-offender probation, according to the sentencing details reported by WFTV. The probation will come with conditions that include GPS monitoring, and Gamache will have to register as a sex offender after his release.

The sentence closes the criminal case, but it also underlines how close the outcome came to changing. Gamache’s new lawyer argued that a previous attorney had forced him into the plea deal, but the judge denied the request and held the plea in place. That decision preserved the state’s case and sent Gamache to prison rather than restarting the fight over his admission.

The attack itself shook one of Seminole County’s best-known recreation routes. According to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, the assault was reported around 4 p.m. on Aug. 18, 2025, near State Road 434 and Douglas Avenue. Investigators said the woman was walking northeast on the trail when she was approached by a man on an electric scooter and dragged toward the woodline. A nearby citizen heard her cries and called 911.

Deputies asked residents and businesses near the trail to check surveillance video, and the sheriff’s office said it would increase law enforcement presence in the area during the investigation. Gamache was taken into custody the next day after a report that a man matching the suspect’s description was seen near Interstate 4 and State Road 434.

For Seminole County residents, the case is especially unsettling because the Seminole Wekiva Trail is not a remote path. County materials describe it as a nearly 14-mile paved recreational trail and a designated Showcase Trail, while brochure material says it stretches about 17 miles from the county line in Altamonte Springs to the Wekiva River, built over the former Orange Belt Railway. The sentence brings punishment, but it also leaves a lasting reminder that a heavily used public trail can become the center of a serious violent crime in moments.