The judge who opted not to jail a man before he was sentenced in a child sex sting faced an onslaught of criticism after he allegedly went on to kill his 5-year-old stepdaughter while out on bond.
State Attorney Jack Campbell blasted Leon Circuit Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper for allowing Daniel Spencer to remain free after he was found guilty weeks before the girl’s death in an unrelated case of traveling to meet a minor. Others posted harsh comments on social media.
“Shame on her,” one person said on Facebook. “This is her last term!” another wrote.
But several local defense attorneys who have been following the case, including one of Baker-Carper’s former political opponents, question whether the criticism is warranted.
“I don’t think it’s fair at all,” said Kevin Alvarez, a Tallahassee defense lawyer. “I was running against Judge Baker for a while back in 2020, and we may not have seen the world the same way. But there is no doubt that she cares deeply about children and the safety of children.”
The death of Melissa “Missy” Mogle, who was found unconscious May 19 at her Southwood home and rushed to the hospital with signs of severe abuse, shocked the community and raised questions about possible failures in the child protection system.
She was found with injuries “from head to toe,” including cuts, bruises, burns and ligature marks, along with indications of possible sexual abuse. Spencer, 35, and his wife Chloe Spencer, 23, the girl’s biological mother, were arrested the day of her death and later charged with murder.
In the immediate aftermath, Campbell told the Tallahassee Democrat that Missy would still be alive had Spencer been locked up while he awaited sentencing in the child sex operation. He noted that prosecutors asked to remand him, but that Baker-Carper rejected their request.
Other heartbreaking details about the case — and Missy’s suffering — soon surfaced. Confidential court records obtained by the Democrat showed that the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Tallahassee Police Department investigated allegations in July 2024 that Spencer had molested Missy.
Both DCF and TPD closed their investigations, however. TPD, which consulted with the State Attorney’s Office on whether to pursue charges, couldn’t find probable cause to make an arrest. Campbell said the only evidence they had was the word of a child deemed too young to understand the concept of perjury.
And DCF, which has yet to publicly comment on Missy’s death, wrote in confidential court filings that it closed its sex abuse investigation the same month it came in through an abuse hotline. DCF ended the probe after Chloe Spencer allowed Missy to live with another family member where she would have no contact with Daniel Spencer — an arrangement that didn’t last.
It’s unclear from court documents and video of the Spencer trial whether Baker-Carper was aware of any of that when she decided not to remand him.
Judge: ‘Enlighten the court if I’ve missed something’
Daniel Spencer, who has three other young children with Chloe Spencer, was arrested Feb. 16, 2024, in a Leon County Sheriff’s Office investigation called “Operation Spring Cleaning.” He was charged after traveling to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old girl for sex but was actually an undercover officer.
During his first court appearance the next day, Leon County Judge J. Gordon Shuler set bond at $3,000. Spencer posted bond and was released Feb. 19, 2024, from the Leon County Detention Facility.
Spencer’s single-day trial, one of the first of the “Spring Cleaning” cases to go forward, lasted into the night on April 15, 2025. Around 9 p.m., after he had been found guilty, discussion in the courtroom turned to sentencing.
Judge Baker-Carper asked whether there was any reason why she shouldn’t proceed to sentence him. Rachel Lagos, an assistant public defender, said he was entitled to a pre-sentence investigation, prompting the judge to set a case management conference for June.
“The court will not remand Mr. Spencer into custody,” Baker-Carper said. “He has been out for an entire year as far as I saw with no violations. I didn’t see any criminal history regarding violence. The only criminal history I saw was relating to drug offenses when I looked. Madam prosecutor, you’re free to enlighten the court if I’ve missed something.”
Assistant State Attorney Jasmine Mattear said she believed Spencer’s record involved “just misdemeanor offenses.” According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records, Daniel Spencer had previously been arrested in Wakulla County for DUI and smuggling contraband into jail, a felony that was changed to misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
“I’m not sure if they were drug offenses, but they were misdemeanor offenses,” Mattear said. She went on to ask for jail time pending sentencing, noting he “scored,” or qualified, for prison time. Traveling to meet a minor is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
“But just to put it on the record, the state would be asking that he be remanded into custody given the nature of this offense as well as the fact that he does score on his score sheet.”
“Are there any other matters to place on the record at this time?” Judge Baker-Carper asked. Neither side spoke up, prompting her to adjourn for the night.
Not everyone in ‘Operation Spring Cleaning’ was remanded
Besides Daniel Spencer, a dozen other men were charged in the Sheriff’s Office cyber sting. All of them posted bond or were released on their own recognizance, although some later had their bonds revoked.
Four of those cases have been resolved in state court, all with plea deals. According to court records, some but not all of the defendants were remanded into custody after they pleaded and were adjudicated guilty.
Bradley Weatherspoon pleaded no contest to traveling to meet a minor in open court on April 24, 2025. Leon Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh adjudicated him guilty and sentenced him to a year and a day in state prison. Marsh placed him on “administrative probation” for two weeks and ordered him to report to the county jail by 5 p.m. on May 8, 2025, to start his sentence.
James Riselli pleaded no contest to use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony on Feb. 4, 2025. Baker-Carper adjudicated him guilty and ordered him to turn himself in at the county jail by 5 p.m. that day.
In Daniel Spencer’s case, Alvarez, the defense attorney, said that prosecutors could have alerted Baker-Carper that Spencer had been accused of sexually abusing a stepdaughter in his home, even though no probable cause was found, and that DCF had been involved.
He said it wasn’t fair for Campbell to attack Baker-Carper now “for the decision that she made using the benefit of the evidence that they knew but didn’t bother to share with her at the time.”
“She specifically asked, ‘Am I missing something?’ Alvarez said. “And I know Judge Baker cares about kids … so I know that would have given her pause.”
First elected in 2000, Baker-Carper was the youngest woman and African American ever elected judge in the 2nd Judicial Circuit, according to her bio. A mother of two girls, she served in Juvenile Delinquency, Family Law, Probate and Guardianship divisions before joining the Criminal Felony Division.
After Spencer’s arrest in Missy’s murder, Baker-Carper revoked his bond. Both he and Chloe Spencer now are being held without bond in Leon County.
Campbell: ‘There was no disconnect’ when state didn’t raise earlier allegations against Spencer
Anabelle Dias, a Tallahassee defense attorney and former assistant public defender, said pre-sentence release happens regularly in state courts, including in serious felony cases. Dias donated $1,000 to Baker-Carper’s campaign in 2020.
She said she represented a client who pleaded guilty to a lewd act against a minor, prompting the judge to ask whether remand was appropriate. The prosecutor didn’t request it, and her client remained free until sentencing.
“Judge Baker’s initial decision was within her discretion and consistent with standard practice, especially since she wasn’t informed of prior investigations that found no probable cause,” Dias said. “When circumstances changed, she appropriately revoked his bond.
“Criticizing a judge for following established legal procedures undermines confidence in our justice system.”
Campbell said it’s “pretty automatic” for defendants to be remanded in serious cases, including lewd and lascivious battery and capital crimes. It’s less common in property crime cases, though he said when former Jefferson County Clerk of Court Kirk Reams was convicted of grand theft last year, he went straight to jail.
“They took him out in handcuffs that night, and that was not a violent crime,” he said.
He said he doesn’t know whether the prosecutor in Spencer’s sex-sting case was aware of the earlier molestation investigation. He disagreed that marked a breakdown in communication to the court about Spencer.
“There was no disconnect in the fact that the judge heard him being found guilty of child sexual abuse,” Campbell said. “When people are trying to have sex with children, that in my opinion is a crime of violence. When a jury finds someone guilty of that, I think the person needs to go to jail.”
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Judge’s decision to release man on bond under scrutiny in wake of Tallahassee girl’s death
Reporting by Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
