Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly announced “Sex Offenders and deviants in this area who think they’re going to operate with impunity have got another thing coming” as they arrested and charged a 15 year old boy with five counts of possession of child pornography and one count of manufacturing child pornography.
The Flagler County operation was done in conjunction with Volusia County (Sheriff Chitwood – you can read more about him here)
When the boy was turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Daytona Beach, they refused to accept him and released him to the custody of his guardians.
The commission of a sex crime is deplorable regardless of the age it is committed. The question in relation is “Should punishment be a lifetime experience?” Sin is an atrocity. We have to realize how monstrous and scandalous it is and how desperately we need God’s forgiveness…yes, even those who don’t believe, need it. We understand and hunger for His grace only at the point of deep and depressing failure. Fantasy softens us up, and our convictions erode. Even good people can do bad things. We can get into a frame of mind to listen to our passions…past experiences, present distractions, disappointments, lost futures. Having listened to those passions, we have no will to resist. There are moments when our wills soften and we long to set things right. If we do not listen to our consciences, there is a metallic hardening and then corruption. Sooner or later we face the horrible experience of being found out. Inevitably our dishonor is shouted from the housetops. There is no place to hide from the shame. We experience the force of sin and as long as that past sin has control of our life we will not prosper. The one who truly knows us is God. God lets us fall not to shame us, but to assure us that though we are guilty, vile, and helpless, we are deeply loved by God. God’s love in the face of our wickedness is what awakens us to humility and contrition; and this does not apply only to registered citizens. God stays with us despite our ‘ruin’. God has never yet despised a broken and contrite heart. God knows our possibilities even in our defilement. God can cancel our guilt and we can once again hold up our heads high. It is self-forgiveness that is most difficult for many of us…it was for me. God’s love can let us be who He meant us to be and not what some men want to make us. Knowing that God has high expectations of us can help us survive until freedom is attained. No one, especially a youth, should have life permanently disabled ‘by a registry around the neck’. Life and potential are far too valuable.
Well see what I said work you see how United you all stood up and defended this young boy. Now if we all could just do that for the registry for all states then we could get something done.
But none of you who are in my age group 35-55 can say that at 15 you didn’t know what you were doing , if not then you all lived a pampered life, now it’s strange that when we or I will say I committed my crime which was 18 years ago how not one person was their to say oh he is still a child a juvenile, no time has not changed that much in the judicial system so why are you all who are on this joke of a registry wanting to care for a person who knew what he was doing who manipulated the other individual “ grooming “ if I’m not badly mistaken and made money off of this. He is the reason why the laws are the way they are. Cus he knew how to cheat the system. Now to all of you who jumped my ace for the statement I made. Go to prison and thinking that you got a fair deal then get out and get released to probation then have the probation officer tell you that you are done with the sex crime you committed, then have the parole board contact you for a other charge that was not related to the sex crime tell you that you have to be on parole for aggravated battery, but all they do is focus on the Sex crime that was done and over with then they violate you 6 -8 times cus it’s the era when they were just getting started on harsh rules for sex offenders – like getting violated for a Harley hog hanging in your rear view mirror, saying that was a object to entice children with. Then only then will you all know how I feel about the laws of this so called United States we live in. I have more of those violations also , like how I could not do my career that I was doing my entire life. Now if America would get striker on the parents about how they let their young teenagers dress and how they practically wear no clothes at all then maybe people would not do what they have been doing to commit these sex acts. But hey I just venting, no I’m stating my opinion, but some of you are saying oh yeah let’s live in pioneer days , well back then you could have sex with someone that was younger than you you might had to marry them but you could do that, so again I don’t give a damm what you all say about me we all have opinions and buttholes so there I am finished.
I just read the story they have on this boy and all of you are protecting this monster ! He was using another individual and making pics of them and selling them! I mean come on he knew what he was doing he was selling the pics online! He deserves to be on the registry for life he is no better than any one who go after baby’s now I can’t imagine what will become of this young monster if he gets away with this crime. I mean damm he made money off of this cp pics, not one of you can say that when you were 15 that you didn’t know right from wrong. So he deserves to get what he has coming to him, it is no different than what some of us did to be on the registry so put that monster away and put his ass in prison cus if they don’t he will escalate his way to something else next time it won’t be pics. I mean damm my victim was just a few years younger than me and I got hit with sex misconduct with a minor a class c felony he’ll my charge wasn’t even on the registry list but they did it and I have to register so what’s the difference between him and us. His age? Again he knew what he was doing!
Dear Donald,
All I can say is WOW! You really cast a wide net saying all of us support this kid and/or his alleged crimes. I think you should take a step back and re-read all of the posts about this case. Not everyone is supporting what this juvenile is accused of doing. Frankly, you’re comments are no better than those of various government officials including but not limited to Sheriff Staley and Sheriff Chitwood who cast such dispersion publicly against all of us without knowing all the facts.
Let Donald vent. He’s highlighting the unfairness of the system and being more than a little ironic.
No one here wants a child to register.
The kid’s brain is still developing. Now that he’s been stopped, he will overcome this, given the right resources. Not that I trust the state of Florida to help him with that. But kudos to the Department of Juvenile Justice for sending him home where he needs to be.
I agree with you Donald! he knew what he was doing and should be placed on the registry for life. Soon half of the worlds’ population will have to to register. I guess we still going have to wait for a few more years for it till the people stand up to these law makers and judges and demand change
Joseph and Donald,
If he “knew what he was doing” (I’m not saying he didn’t), then why would an older woman be arrested and charged with sexual “assault” if she let him screw her brains out?
This situation is a double edged sword; “They can’t consent because they aren’t developed yet” vs “They knew what they were doing” when they (the younger person) is the perpetrator.
Astounding!
F.A.C Sure in the hell crying about freedom of speech but sure loves to censor others’ freedom of speech! A brunch of babies looking for justification for their crimes The kid broke the law he needs to go to prison and be placed on the life time registry too
Why do so many people get confused about freedom of speech? You don’t have any freedom of speech at all on private websites. F.A.C. may disallow anything they like and they haven’t affected your freedom of speech at all.
I do think there is some legal concept about a “public square” and freedom of speech but I’m certain it doesn’t apply to private group’s websites. So let’s stop whining about supposed freedom of speech violations. You can complain that F.A.C. is not allowing your speech, but you’ve got no right to speech here.
I haven’t read anything about this 15 year old or commented about it. But maybe you are a little confused about why people are giving their opinions about it? What would it possibly have to do with “justification for their crimes”? They are talking about the kid, not themselves.
One thing I will say is that the concept of “charged as an adult” seems completely idiotic and immoral. A person can’t be a child when it is convenient for government but an adult when not. That is nothing more than government being criminals.
I don’t know what the 15 year old did but let’s assume he deserves to be punished. Whatever that is, it should not be as harsh as the punishment given a 25 year old that did the same thing. We know that 15 year old brains are not fully developed so their punishment must be less. If we don’t follow that, we’re immoral.
Lastly, the kid shouldn’t be placed on a Registry because Registries shouldn’t exist. So nope, the kid should not be placed on a Registry.
When I was 15, only NASA had computers and some other agencies. Heck we still had to go to a pay phone to call for help if there was an accident and you were not close to a house to get help.
We had Polaroid cameras where the photo came out the end and you had to wave it in the air for it to dry. The Charles chip man still came to your house to bring a huge tin of chips your Mother ordered.
There were no school shootings and if you got into trouble at school, the coach came to class with a huge wooden cutting board with holes in it in a whipped your ass. You had a choice, three licks with the paddle or 3 days suspension and your parents called to pick you up.
You could walk down the street with your BB gun without anyone calling the police ( there was no 9-11 ) saying there was a person with a gun. We went into the woods and shot bottles and sometimes birds but I didn’t really like killing animals and always felt bad about doing it ( I am a big softy at heart )
When you got into trouble, you did not automatically go to jail, the cop would either just chew you out on the scene or at most turn you over to your parents where they knew your butt would get a good tanning with the belt and put on 2 weeks restrictions and extra chores.
I would lay in bed on Friday nights and listen to my 8-track tapes and vinyl records.
I could go on and on but a lot has changed over the years. Some good, some bad.
My final thoughts, I think if I was 15 still and put on the registry, I probably would have committed suicide.
So you’re saying that 60 years from now when he’s old and grey, he should still be wearing the consequences of a poor decision made when he could barely grow a pubic hair? That’s ridiculous and onerous. Should there be a consequence? Yes. An everlasting consequence? Hell no.
We tend to forget that in our youth we are curious about life going on around us. I remember the first time I saw a “Playboy” magazine. I thought how neat it was to see naked women. Over the years I have come to pity women who feel a calling to pose for such pictures. Our thoughts and habits change as we age and experience life. It is a shame when anyone feels he/she must ‘prostitute’ themselves to make it in life. I don’t honor or look up to those who do; I feel sorry for them and hope that one day they wake up. To destroy a young boy’s life over what is a natural curiosity is a crime unto itself. We have far too many in the United States today that make a living by destroying the lives of many.
If anybody is truly evil and a monster, it is people like you who perpetuate the fear mongering attitudes about sex in the USA! People like you make me hate this country and many of the people in it more and more! This 15 year old made a mistake and should get help as opposed to the punishment fetish we have in this country. In Germany for instance, things like this would be treated with treatment as opposed to punishment. Also, he is only 15 years old and is not an adult yet!
He is 15 years old, not a legal adult by any measure, and you want to lock him up and throw away the key. Got it. It’s not just a matter of knowing “right from wrong,” it’s a matter of an immature mind not being able to fully understand the effects and consequences of what he’s doing and how negatively he is impacting someone else’s life, along with his own. Should he be given punishment? Yes, but only if it also involves counseling and/or treatment. Otherwise we are just wasting another life to no good end. Try to see past the end of your nose here.
He may have well known it was wrong, but the brain is not fully mature until age 24 or so. At 15 he was not capable of recognizing the consequences of his actions. Not just the criminal justice consequences, but those of his victims either!
First and foremost, I feel sorry for this boy. He will not get the mental health treatment he needs, only prison time and a lifetime on the registry, never being able to hold a job or find a place to live.
This is just one example of the double standard Floriduh and many other states have when it comes to adolescents and sex. The system wants to ruin this boy, yet legislators will debate for hours on the House and Senate floors championing a teenage girl’s right to have an abortion without her parents consent.
Without federal intervention, Floriduh and its 67 counties and 100s of municipalities will continue to pass legislation strangling the registrant community while creating more “sex offenders” to add to the registry. FAC, ACLU, NARSOL, ACSOL, etc. cannot sue fast enough to keep up with the unconstitutional laws being passed which have to be proved unconstitutional in court when the “reasonable” person can see they are unconstitutional prima facie.
I try to stay positive, but I don’t know how much more I can take.
I feel sorry for the boy to.
Regardless of all the financially and politically instigated laws, I am at a loss as to how society has embraced the internet and it’s sharing capability and yet still finds its use objectionable (to their own tastes). Oh, I know, because “we” allowed/voted for it.
Sex has been a part of society and will be forever as long as humans exist. Life as we know it is incremental to life on Earth. How long have people existed? Millions of years? Even a million years in incremental years. Surely, I/we agree to changes. My next 24 hours may be my last.
A 15 year old is just learning. A 15 year may be trying to earn money. A 15 year may be wondering what the whole sex thing is about. Me, at 15, yes, oh yes, I saw beautiful women. Being a geek, most rejected me even to my just saying hi. I earned money by mowing grass and shoveling horse crap.
Today, a 15 year old has a 30% chance of being on the registry. That boggles my mind.
Exactly! Very well said.
……..” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Our Major Case Unit, and especially with our new proactive Cybercrimes Unit, are not going to let up.
This statement from the SOURCE article is right in line with the weekly update just received with the “theory that Florida loves sex offenders” and why they seem so “valuable”.
Sheriff Staly is most likely getting federal and state grants for his “new proactive cybercrimes unit” and to justify that money, they are going to find people to prosecute to keep that money flowing in for new cars, additional staff, adding a few new Captain and Major ranks, etc.
It’s not about solving a problem, it’s about money, plain and simple.
Lets look closely at whom the real “deviant” truly is?
To use this slang word shows his bias toward the crimes he is supposed to be acting on. He is setting up elaborate web based stings that coax unsuspecting young people into sex crimes they normally would have no interest in.
That in itself is a “deviant” violation of constitutional law worsened by the fact this Sheriff wants to jail the underage as adults.
Florida remains full of crazy redneck cops just looking for an excuse to rid their county’s of Sex Offenders.
My question here is; just whom is the real so called “deviant”
JEV – True Confessions
“Sex Offenders and deviants in this area who think they’re going to operate with impunity have got another thing coming,” Sheriff Rick Staly said
WTF!!?? The kid is 15 fucking years old!! He’s coming of age and of course he’s NATURALLY interested in sex (omg!). They also failed to elaborate on exactly what his “production of child pornography” was. Was it photos of himself?
We are so worried about protecting children from predatory ADULTS that we fail to recognize that kids assume that they can do it because they’re kids. This jackass of a Sheriff is speaking as if he arrested a 50 yr old rather than the 15 yr old that he’d be referring to as a “victim” if an older person touched him in a sexual way. What in the actual fuck is going on in this country???!!!!
I seriously do wish that the teenage children of these LEA’s would get caught up in this type of thing. I want to see/hear cops referring to their own children as the sexual deviants they call everyone else. Bastards!
Not going to happen. When their kids gets caught up in something, it is covered up. I know it has been a Longgggg time since I worked in law enforcement but most agencies have a “Code of silence” where they cover each other’s backs.
All the evidence would be destroyed and any victims families would be told it would be take care of or blackmailed or threatened. I saw so many cover ups during my time I could write a book.
I cannot think of one thing I did during my time on the force that I am ashamed of other than not turning some of those bastards in. However that would have been the quick end of my career.
Thin blue line
Yeah, Cops have what is called a ‘Blue Code’ which if they see another officer committing a crime during a ‘bust’ they keep their mouth shut.
Also, I was told by a retired deputy sheriff that at times they had a ‘drop gun’, so that if the suspect was shot unarmed they could place a gun near the suspect to cover the shooting of an unarmed individual.
Article penned by sheriff’s office PR, directly and explicitly.
Is this part of a new trend, with the thinning of local newspaper reporting?
Isn’t the Palm Coast Observer a little embarrassed not to have had a reporter to investigate the story, or have they always done it this way?
We often accuse local news outlets of serving as a mouthpiece for the sheriff, but this seems like another boundary crossed.
Dear Jacob,
You raise a great point about the media being highly influenced by LE. Has anyone else noticed that many so called “reporters” are now spokesmen/women for various LE and other government agencies? Case in point: Jane Watrel was a reporter for WFTV (scumbags) in the past. Now she works as a spokeswoman for Orange County S.O. where Rick Staley was a Deputy and Undersheriff before being elected to the high sheriff in Flagler County. Also, Cocoa Police Public Information Officer Yvonne Martinez used to be a reporter at WFTV and WKMG. So, they are all linked in one way or another, not independent of each other!
That is illuminating info. I thought I was aware of the ways in which local news outlet and sheriffs use each other— the sheriff can get their message out while the outlet can get a sensational story without much effort.
What I was NOT aware of was this additional factor of a revolving door between news outlets and sheriffs departments. Apparently certain reporters don’t want to jeopardize their employment prospects with the sheriff.
Which makes me extra-thankful for true journalists such as Ben Conarck and Jim Defede who aren’t afraid to follow the truth wherever it leads. Better to follow their stuff, than WFTV or Palm Coast Observer.
The last sentence doesn’t make sense. No explanation on why they refused him but seems a good thing he was able to go to his guardians.
He was most likely texting someone pics of his privates and that is what got him busted. Far from being a sex offender if that is all he did. Stupid to do but not worth getting a record over. However a lot of times the judge will use the excuse ” I am sorry young man but the law is clear and my hands are tied” and send them away ruining their lives.
More “facts” from the Flagler County Sheriff via WESH News alleging that the boy produced CP from an identified victim, not from selfies.
https://www.wesh.com/article/flagler-county-15-year-old-accused-of-creating-selling-child-porn/31121400
We don’t know the facts and circumstances for sure because the police report was heavily redacted. It was apparently a lot worse than what you suggested, he was not uploading pictures of himself.
Regardless, the questions this present are (1) how culpable do we want to hold a 15 year old boy? Do we charge him with possession of CP and register him for life so that he will never be able to complete schooling, keep a decent job, raise his own kids and when he’s 55 years old, people can look him up and it looks like he was a dirty old man looking at pictures of kids or do we want to assign a punishment that accounts for his undeveloped judgment skills, but lets him learn his lesson and not ruin his life? (2) Why did the department of juvenile justice turn him away? Did they refuse to prosecute the case because they saw it for what it was or is there plans to allow the state attorneys office to prosecute him as an adult? (3) What is the ultimate goal when dealing with juvenile offenders? Is it punishment or is it rehabilitation? Can you re-direct the life of a kid who made a bad choice or do we throw away a life?
Thank you for your response. Well written and gives a bit more insight into the matter. Some great points made as well.
My personal opinion is that we remind the courts and the lawmakers that the registry was started for psychopaths like the man who kidnapped, raped and murdered 7 yr old Megan Kanka and NOT for kids being naturally interested in sex and sexuality like WE ALL WERE at that age.
A kid at 15 cannot consent to sex with a person over 2 years older because apparently they’re not developed yet to make such a decision. So how is it that he’s supposed to understand that HIS actions are the same as a consenting adult’s?
This sex offender hysteria has gone too far and seriously need to be shut down.
FAC, your comment would make for a great text in an opinion piece on this subject.
please feel free to use it.
The more hands on deck submitting these to papers, the better. I have my hands full working this site.
Registration remains in Florida 25 years for possession of CP conviction or not. Not sure about manufacturing which probably gets thrown out.
INCORRECT – Registration in Florida is for LIFE – You can petition for removal only after 25 years pursuant to 943.0435(11). Manufacturing DOES NOT get thrown out – production is worse than possession.
I took a plea deal in 1993 because I was scared and also I was a minor, I had to do two years arrest and 4 years probation. The judge (Perry) told me I had to complete 100 hours community service and complete a sex offender treatment program, never once did I have to submit a photo online for everyone to see. Had I known this was going to happen I would of took it to trial. There should be changes made since the state is always adding something new to make peoples lives worth not living. They should give people who have done their time and haven’t been in any trouble at all a new beginning at life by removing some offenders off the internet.
William, is your case in FL?
If you were adjudicated in 1993 and had 6 years of sanctions, you would have completed all sanctions in 1999. If you have no subsequent arrests you MIGHT be eligible to petition for removal under 943.0435(11).
Yes my case was here in Tampa, Fl the sad part is the judge didn’t require me to register as a S/O and my charges were 2 counts of Lewd and Lascivious. I didn’t know I could petition it and figured I was always going to have this monkey on my back. Who or where do I go to petition this to? I haven’t even had so much as a speeding ticket since I was finished with probation in 1999. Everything began in September 28th 1993 and I finished it all in September 28th 1999 All I really want is to just live a quiet life and not be near anyone except nature.
I would call Ron Kliener. Hes on the attourney page on the FAC page. That’s who I used. The guy is top notch and will not screw you around.
This case shows the competing interests of different agencies operating within our so called criminal justice system. Prosecutors and LE define all child porn as crimes of violence. Yet, the Dept of Juvenile Justice (ie corrections in the adult world) refused to accept this suspect by not defining any child pornography as crimes of violence. Put simply, Rick Staley and Mike Chitwood and their ilk speak with forked tongues!