A Palm Coast man who was arrested in November 2025 after a monthlong investigation revealed he had been in a sexual relationship with a teenager has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to state prison.
Brandon Raymond, 20, pleaded guilty on June 3, 2026, to two counts of lewd or lascivious battery. Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols sentenced him to four years in state prison. Upon release, Raymond will be required to register as a sex offender and will serve 11 years of sex offender probation. He is currently being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, awaiting transfer to the Florida Department of Corrections.
“I commend our team and thank the prosecution for making sure this offender faced justice and got the prison time he deserved for taking advantage of a young teenager that he wanted to date,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “He took the innocence away, and now he gets to sit in prison and think about what he did. Parents, this is a good reminder to monitor your child’s social media activity and the apps they are using, as you never know what pervert is on the other side of the keyboard.”
How the Investigation Began
The case started on September 16, 2025, when a concerned parent contacted the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and reported that a 20-year-old man had been having a sexual relationship with her teenage child for approximately three months. The parent could only identify the man by the first name “Brandon.”
Deputies and a mental health specialist from the FCSO Behavioral Response Unit responded to the family’s Palm Coast home. At the parent’s request, the victim’s cellphone and iPad were turned over to the FCSO Digital Forensics Unit for a forensic review.
That review revealed that Raymond had communicated with the victim through text messages, Snapchat, and Instagram. The data recovered from the devices included sexually explicit messages referencing past sexual activity between the two.
On October 1, a Florida Department of Health Child Protection Team conducted a formal interview with the victim. The victim confirmed the relationship had lasted approximately three months and that Raymond knew the victim was a minor. The victim also stated the two had sex on multiple occasions, including in Raymond’s vehicle.
Search Warrants, Evidence, and Arrest
On October 8, detectives obtained warrants to search Raymond’s vehicle, collect his DNA, and seize his cellphone. Two days later, they located Raymond at a grocery store parking lot in Flagler Beach. During that conversation, Raymond confirmed to detectives that he was aware of the victim’s age and that the two had been sexually active.
The FCSO Crime Scene Investigations Unit later conducted a forensic examination of Raymond’s vehicle and found biological fluids on the backseat and multiple items of clothing in the trunk. That evidence was submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for further analysis.
On November 7, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for two counts of lewd or lascivious battery of a minor. That same evening, the Problem Area Crime Enforcement Unit located Raymond at his Palm Coast residence and took him into custody. He was later released on a $50,000 bond.
“This offender was fully aware this child he was having sex with was just that — a child,” said Sheriff Staly. “Fortunately, the child’s parent understood how serious the situation was and contacted law enforcement. I commend the parent for being the Sheriff in their home, as well as the dedicated team members from our patrol, Major Case, Digital Forensics, CSI, Behavioral Response, and PACE units who worked hard to make this case and arrest him.”
Additional Arrests in the Same Period
Raymond’s November 7 arrest was his third in two weeks. Earlier in November, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested him on two separate Volusia County warrants connected to a shooting investigation in Ormond Beach.
On November 1, Raymond was arrested on a Volusia County warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of shooting or throwing a deadly missile into a vehicle. He was released on a $55,000 bond.
Shortly after, he was arrested a second time on a Volusia County warrant for tampering with a witness. His bond on that charge was later revoked, and he was transferred to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
