Dontia Deone Mobley, known as “Dante,” is a 34-year-old resident of 611 South Bacher Street in Bunnell. He’s a sex offender serving 10 years’ probation following his release from prison in March 2018 after serving almost five years on a statutory rape charge involving a 14 year old girl.
Just before 11 today, Mobley was arrested and charged with molesting a girl who was 8-9 years old when he was a counselor at the Boys and Girls Club in Palm Coast before his incarceration.
The alleged incidents took place from May 2011 to August 2012, when Mobley was between and 27 and 28 years old. The club then and now operates out of Rymfire Elementary during the school year, and out of Bunnell Elementary during summer vacation.
Mobley worked for the Boys and Girls Club in Flagler from December 2009 to January 2013, according to Joe Sullivan, the long-time chief professional officer of the Volusia-Flagler club. Mobley was fired when parents reported that he was making inappropriate comments to girls at the club.
“Last spring DCF came around and was investigating him for things that may have happened at the club,” Sullivan said of the Department of Children and Families, “and the they turned that over to the sheriff’s office. We’ve cooperated with it, but we had no record or complaints about him other than the fact that parents came to us and he told us he made some inappropriate comments to their daughters.” Mobley would tell girls that they would make good adult dancers some day.
According to Mobley’s arrest report, the victim, now about 16, reported to investigators that Mobley rubbed himself against her over clothing until he ejaculated, made the girl sit on his lap during field trips, and propositioned her to have oral sex. “Mobley was in complete custody and control of the child due to him being her Boys and Girls club counselor for multiple hours per day,” the report states.
The sheriff’s office was alerted to the allegations in May 2018. Detective Nicole Quintieri handled the investigation, interviewing the suspect who, according to a sheriff’s release, “eventually provided a confession.” He was near the intersection of East Drain Street and South State Street in Bunnell this morning when he was arrested at 10:40 a.m.
Mobley was arrested on probation violations before his arrest today. (He’d refused to submit to electronic GPS monitoring, failed a reporting requiredment and lived within 1,000 feet of a park, which is prohibited for sex offenders.) He now faces a charge of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim younger than 12, a first degree felony that exposes him to up to 30 years in prison. Since the charge pre-dates his 2013 arrest, he would not be considered a prison-release re-offender, which could have aggravated his sentence, if found guilty. In the 2013 case, he was convicted for engaging in sex with a 14-year-old girl in a van in Bunnell.
The after-school clubs “provide a fun, safe and constructive environment for kids and teens during out-of-school hours,” according to the national club’s mission, with a focus on lower-income children and programs that help students “succeed in school, develop leadership skills, and maintain healthy lifestyles.” The Boys and Girls Club of Volusia Flagler has eight locations currently, just one of them in Flagler. It had previously operated out of Carver Gym in Bunnell.
The club in Flagler, which gets a $30,000 subsidy from the county commission but raises most of its funds, enrolls about 200 students over the course of the year, though not all attend at the same time. Generally, Sullivan said, the club has an enrollment of about 50 to 70 students working with a staff of five– a full time unity director, a full-time program director, and three part-time youth development professionals. That was Mobley’s official title. His responsibilities included helping students with homework, organizing games and physical fitness. The program operates out of a music room, an art room and a gymnasium, from 3:30 to 7 p.m. The school provides the students with dinner every night, thanks to a USDA grant.
“We’re a safe place for kids to go. I’m in my 27th year, and this is the first time we’ve had an allegation like this, but we take this very serious, only one is too many,” Sullivan said. “The safety of kids is our most important thing, and if we fell down on the job one time this is something we can never let happen again, and let’s see where the investigation goes.” Sullivan added: “My heart goes out to the girl and the family. She’s in my thoughts and prayers.”
Layla says
Children need to be taught to step forward IMMEDIATELY if they find themselves in situations like this. This is so important.
Steve says
May the victim receive the counseling she needs. May the alleged rot in an 8×10