Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly is calling it a “travesty of justice” after a North Carolina judge slashed a bond for a man accused of sexually battering a child during the ages of 6 and 9, according to a social media post from the agency.
Kermit Booth, 72, of Franklin, North Carolina, was arrested Aug. 1 on a Flagler County warrant on two counts of sexual battery of a victim under 12, the post said.
Booth was taken to the Macon County Detention Center and held under a $500,000 bond set in the arrest warrant by a Flagler County judge. But a North Carolina judge lowered it to $35,000, according to the sheriff’s office.
Booth posted bond and was released from jail. He has an extradition hearing scheduled for Sept. 8, according to the sheriff’s office.
“This case is a disturbing reminder of how predators can exploit situations to harm children,” stated Staly in the post. “While we commend the bravery of the victim and the work of our Major Case Unit in obtaining a warrant and arrest, it’s deeply troubling that a North Carolina judge chose to lower the bond set by a Florida judge. This victim waited 10 years for him to be held accountable and now this North Carolina judge has victimized our victim again by allowing him to be released before his extradition hearing on a very low bond. This is a travesty of justice and in all my years in law enforcement, I have never heard of a fugitive from justice case being handled like this by an out-of-state judge. I promise the victim we will continue to fight for justice.”
Booth solicited sexual intercourse from the victim multiple times from 2006 to 2009 when the victim was between around 6 to 9 years old, according to the victim’s mother, the sheriff’s office stated. Booth was about 53 to 56 years old. The victim refused.
But Booth forced the victim to perform oral sex on at least one occasion while the victim was at Booth’s Palm Coast home.
The investigation began in 2015 but due to “significant investigative challenges” it did not progress much. Then in March 2023, the victim reengaged with the agency’s Major Case Unit and provided more evidence, the sheriff’s office stated.
Detectives relaunched the investigation and corroborated the mother’s and victim’s statements. In February, the “FCSO Digital Forensics Unit forensically identified new evidence against Booth,” the post stated.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler Sheriff: ‘Travesty of justice’ that judge slashed bond in child sex battery case
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
