It’s The 96th Kings Point Delray Beach Arrest Since 2023. The 12th This Year.
DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A resident of the Kings Point senior living community in Delray Beach has been charged with sexual battery after a woman told Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office detectives that he sexually assaulted her while she was incapacitated following a dental procedure, according to an arrest report obtained by BocaNewsNow.com.
Joel Freedman, 81, of 208 Waterford I in Delray Beach, faces two counts of sexual battery on a helpless person over 18 years of age, a first-degree felony under Florida law. According to a probable cause affidavit, the alleged victim — a woman who had teeth extracted on the afternoon of November 15, 2024 — had taken two milligrams of Ativan, a sedative prescribed by her oral surgeon, before the procedure. Freedman, described in the affidavit as a longtime friend of 12 years, picked her up from the dental office and drove her home to her residence in the same Kings Point community. Her dental surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Ganeles, later told investigators that Ativan can cause retrograde amnesia, effectively wiping a patient’s memory, and that the practice’s standard protocol is to wheel patients out of the office to prevent injury.
The woman told detectives she had no memory of leaving the dentist or arriving home. She said she woke at 5 a.m. the following day feeling pain and physical symptoms that led her to believe she had been sexually assaulted. When she later confronted Freedman by phone, he admitted to performing oral sex on her and digitally penetrating her, according to the affidavit. He also sent her text messages pleading with her not to contact law enforcement — at one point writing, according to the affidavit, that he accepted total responsibility for his actions and was begging her not to involve police. A medical examination conducted November 18, 2024 documented abrasions and lacerations consistent with the allegations. When detectives interviewed Freedman at his residence on March 11, 2025, he confirmed the sexual contact but claimed the woman had appeared coherent and was directing his actions, according to the affidavit.
Detectives from PBSO District 7 in Boca Raton conducted the investigation, which spanned several months before the arrest. The charge — sexual battery on a helpless person — carries a Level 9 offense designation under Florida sentencing guidelines, among the most serious classifications in the state’s criminal code. A court date had not yet been set as of the filing.
Freedman, who was born in Pennsylvania and has a Florida driver’s license, has been charged but not convicted. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This is at least the 96th arrest of a Kings Point Delray Beach resident since 2023 and the 12th this calendar year.
