Seth Tyler Holton, 54, a resident at the Pellicer Creek Campground just across the Flagler-St. Johns County line, is being held without bond at the Flagler County jail on an accusation of raping an adolescent girl at a B-Section house in Palm Coast while the girl’s parents were not home.
Holton was a family friend. According to his arrest report, on Dec. 15, he entered the girl’s bedroom and assaulted her. The girl “stated that the incident was not consensual and she was frozen in fear to pull herself away at any time during the incident.” The alleged victim is between 12 and 16 years old.
Holton told authorities he had made a mistake.
The parents, in cooperation with detectives, elicited verbal statements from Holton that amounted to “multiple confessions,” according to his arrest report. In the statements, he confirmed the various ways in which he had assaulted the girl. He disputed the girl’s account that he had removed his pants.
On Dec. 29, he met with detectives at a gas station on U.S. 1 and Matanzas Woods Parkway in Palm Coast for a non-custodial interview (he was not under arrest at the time) “and he immediately stated that he made a mistake,” the report states, again allegedly confessing to the various assaults. He was then placed under arrest and taken to the county jail.
He was charged with sexual battery on a person between 12 and 18, a first-degree felony with a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison if convicted, and a count of lewd and lascivious battery, or molestation, a second-degree felony with a maximum penalty of 15 years.
Sheriff Rick Staly called it “a deliberate act” that Holton “effectuated through fear.” Staly credited the “bravery of the victim coming forward” and the work of deputies and detectives. “If you take the innocence away from a child, we will do everything we can to take your freedom away,” he said.
Atwp says
Sad.