10 Years Prison, 20 Years Probation for 70-Year-Old in Plea to Lesser Charge of Abusing Neighbor Girl for Years

In one of the more rapid resolutions of a case of this sort, Kermit Carl Booth, the former Palm Coast resident and Volusia County schools employee facing capital charges of raping a child, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge on Wednesday and was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 20 years on sex-offender probation. He will be required to serve the 10 years day for day, without the possibility of early release for good behavior.

Nor will he be eligible for early termination of probation. Ordinarily, a probation term may be ended at the halfway mark if the probationer complied with all conditions.

The two charges of raping a child younger than 12 were reduced to a single charge of attempted rape on a child younger than 12, a first-degree felony with a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The plea saves Booth from potentially facing a life sentence at trial, and saves the victim from having to testify. (See: “Palm Coast Man and Ex-Volusia County Schools Employee Charged With Raping Neighbors’ Child in Z Section” and “Palm Coast Man and Ex-Volusia County Schools Employee Charged With Raping Neighbors’ Child in Z Section.”)

Booth turns 71 on Sunday. He had lived in Palm Coast for decades until 2023. The incidents involved a prepubescent neighbor girl whom he enticed to visit him at his house across the street, where he had a pool and other lures. He moved out of Palm Coast after selling the house, and was later arrested in Franklin, North Carolina. The victim, now an adult and a young mother, no longer lives in Florida.

Booth pleaded and was sentenced by Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols during what would have been a docket sounding hearing, when trial is scheduled. Booth had almost no chance of prevailing at trial as Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark was prepared to prosecute him using his own texts to the victim as evidence of his crimes. He had texted the victim once she was an adult. The victim’s boyfriend, posing as the victim, continued to text with Booth, encouraging him to describe what he had done and thus extracting the confessions that incriminated him. It isn’t clear if Booth was ever aware that he had been texting someone other than the victim, a technique similar to when detectives arrange for “controlled calls” with a suspect to extract confessions.

If he survives to 81, he will live on probation as a designated sexual predator with severe restrictions on where he may live, spend his time or volunteer. He will be prohibited from living near or visiting schools and day care centers, and will be required to wear a GPS monitor for the 20 years of his probation, paying the monthly costs. He will also be required to pay the $4,265 the Sheriff’s Office incurred to extradite him from North Carolina. Sheriff Rick Staly flew to Franklin, N.C., to collect Booth last September. The court has no objection to Booth returning to North Carolina once released from prison.

Booth was represented by DeLand attorney Tammy Jaques. The case was investigated by Flagler County Sheriff’s Cpls. Dan LaVerne, Brandon Crosbee and Mike Breckwoldt, among others.

“Thanks to the hard work of our great detectives and the steadfast, resolute determination of the victim,” Staly said in a statement, “we can call him what he is: a convicted sex offender. We hope our victim can continue her recovery knowing this pervert [who] took her innocence away will spend the next decade, frankly very likely the rest of his life, behind bars where he can’t be a danger to any more children.”

A North Carolina magistrate had initially released Booth on low bail following his arrest. He was rearrested following the intervention of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who issued an extradition request to the North Carolina governor after North Carolina said it would not hold Booth without such a request. Staly was not pleased by the runaround.