The victim reported being frozen in fear during the attack; the suspect was held without bond
A 54-year-old St. Augustine man has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a minor following an investigation by Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Major Case Unit detectives.
On December 28, deputies and detectives responded to a home in Flagler County to investigate reported sex crimes. The victim told detectives that Seth Tyler Holton entered the victim’s bedroom on December 15, 2025, while the victim’s parents were not home. According to the victim, Holton groped them, removed their pants, and sexually battered and molested them. The victim also reported being frozen in fear of Holton as he carried out the act.
Detectives later interviewed Holton, whose statements supported the victim’s account of the incident.
“Sexually battering and molesting a child is reprehensible,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “This was a deliberate act, one which this predator effected through fear. Because of the bravery of the victim coming forward, and the quick work of our deputies and detectives in the Major Case Unit, this pervert will be held accountable for his heinous actions. If you take the innocence away from a child, we will do everything we can to take your freedom away.”
Deputies arrested Holton on two charges. The first is sexual battery of a victim between 12 and 18 years of age by an offender older than 18, which is a first-degree felony. The second charge is lewd or lascivious battery on a victim between 12 and 16 years of age, a second-degree felony.
Holton was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where he is being held without bond.
