After carrying a 9 mm handgun with him all day at Flagler Palm Coast High School last Sept. 4, Sean Junior Goska, 15, who was on probation for a series of felonies but nevertheless attending school, went to McDonald’s with a few friends and pulled the gun on one of them.
Goska had been arrested in March on charges of burglary, fleeing police, larceny, damaging property and grand theft auto. He was sentenced to probation and eventually sent back to school after a period of home detention. I isn’t known how long he’d been carrying to gun at school.
On Sept. 9, the State Attorney’s Office charged Goska as an adult with three felonies–aggravated assault with a firearm, possession of a weapon on school property, and firearm possession by a delinquent. The charges added up to a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison if convicted.
Last week, Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols, after a sentencing hearing split over two days because of its legal complications, sentenced Goska to 18 to 36 months in a maximum-risk juvenile prison under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Justice, followed by two years’ house arrest (or community control), followed by three years on adult probation.
The sentence, unusually structured as it combined juvenile and adult elements, was the result of a plea. It included an adjudication of delinquency on the probation violation charges he incurred with the gun charges.
“I need you to understand how grave this is,” Nichols told Goska as he stood before her, barely taller than the lectern, at Friday’s sentencing. “This is not juvenile court where you’re just getting slapped on the wrist and you’re being sent to a facility. You get sentenced in this case, and I send you to state prison as an adult. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am, “ he said. If he reoffends during his probationary term, he could face prison.
“I could legally do that today but for your attorney and the state working something out,” the judge said. “These are incredibly serious charges with incredibly serious consequences.”
Nichols sentenced him as a juvenile offender instead of as an adult, thus reducing his exposure to harsher penalties, and ensuring that, once he completes the sentence–assuming he does not reoffend–he will not have been adjudicated guilty of a felony. He will have his full civil rights, including the right to vote. He could also cut the term of his house arrest at the one-year mark if he makes it to that point without incident. He turned 16 on Nov. 5. A no-contact order is in effect regarding the students he was with on Sept. 4, and he is barred from going to the McDonald’s on State Road 100.
In an interview with a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy, Goska said he’d been at McDonald’s with the three other students on Sept. 4, but he denied pulling a gun or having one on him.
An Instagram video Goska himself posted and that a witness viewed and reported to authorities indicated otherwise. After getting a report of the video, Deputies searched Goska’s bedroom on Sea Beacon Place in Palm Coast and found a 9 mm Canik firearm with 18 rounds in a magazine, all in a backpack belonging to Goska.
Goska admitted to deputies that he’d obtained the gun three months earlier while breaking into cars in Palm Coast’s E-Section. He also admitted to carrying the gun all day at school, but that he was supposedly holding it for a friend. He said he was only playing around when he pulled the gun on the other student at McDonald’s (they were in the bathroom, out of view of surveillance cameras).
“If you bring a gun to school or point it at someone else, you will be arrested. It doesn’t matter if you think you were just playing around; we will not tolerate this behavior and a 15-year-old playing with a gun is a recipe for disaster,” Sheriff Rick Staly was quoted as saying at the time of Goska’s September arrest. “I commend the students who spoke up and reported this to our school resource deputies so they could investigate. This is a great example of why our SRDs build rapport with our students.”
Note: Once Sean Goska completes his sentence, and absent additional incidents, his name may be redacted from this article.
Bo Peep says
He be a gangsta now.
Kojak says
It’s funny that here in this country people worship stereotypes like the Sopranos, Hatfield and McCoy’s fiction and nonfiction. Birth school shooters, meth monsters and create pill mills. But somehow your weird 1970s Huggy Bear “vernacular” from the old TV show Starsky and Hutch reflects this troubled kids whole life and how you think black people talk.
Pogo says
@Talk about life imitating art
… toss a coin while you’re at it — to know how the story ends. Writer’s block? Hell, take a break for local news; you can go for years, before you need another one.
JimboXYZ says
“Goska had been arrested in March on charges of burglary, fleeing police, larceny, damaging property and grand theft auto. He was sentenced to probation and eventually sent back to school after a period of home detention. I isn’t known how long he’d been carrying to gun at school.
On Sept. 9, the State Attorney’s Office charged Goska as an adult with three felonies–aggravated assault with a firearm, possession of a weapon on school property, and firearm possession by a delinquent. The charges added up to a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison if convicted.”
And they still went soft on where he needed to be sent ? How many more future victims does there need to be ? They don’t catch him for the gun thefts if he doesn’t have the 3 felonies of getting caught for this particular crime. Nobody wants to give up on another, especially a a juvenile 15 year old, but this has already gone sideways & wrong. Easy bet is he winds up violating the terms of this plea bargain down.
This is what these juveniles got. That’s where we are pretty much, when a 15 year old pulls a gun on another at McDonald’s ?
https://flaglerlive.com/jones-watts-home-invasion/
Joe D says
HOW SAD …for all involved…
As a Master’s prepared Clinical Nurse Specialist and Certified Nurse case Manager who worked for 10+ years as a Child and Family Therapist…all I have to say is this young man was unlikely to have been BORN with this behavior…
Again, HOW SAD…either his parents likely didn’t have THEIR acts together and with limited school counseling and mental health resources in the Flagler County area…there was only do much TEACHING STAFF could do.
I hope that this….I have to say it…”CHILD” gets the resources he needs and ACCEPTS THEM…he should never have gotten to this point at the age of 15! That is such a poor reflection on our current SOCIETY!
Skibum says
Joe, while it is true that this may be a “sad” situation, this teenage defendant is no longer a child, and his criminal behavior is a reflection on HIM, not a reflection on society.
At 15 years old, with prior criminal arrests for “burglary, fleeing police, larceny, damaging property and grand theft auto”, and now in front of a judge once again for “aggravated assault with a firearm, possession of a weapon on school property, and firearm possession by a delinquent”, this teenage criminal has already had multiple opportunities to understand the serious consequences that result from criminal behavior. He has obviously disregarded previous attempts to correct his poor choices and instead he has made intentional decisions time and time again to continue his involvement in criminal activity or he would not be in front of a judge again.
I’m really curious to hear when exactly do you believe it ceases to be an “us” problem, and starts to be a “him” problem?
Joe D says
It’s a “him” problem, when enough PARENTAL assistance had been offered at an early age (but been rejected), when enough Community Resources have been offered ( but been rejected), and enough Educational Resources have been offered (and been rejected).
As a THERAPIST, I was AGAST, that by 12 years old, some of the reports on clients on my INPATIENT Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital unit, were ALREADY indicating the child was heading to the “likely lost cause” category. That’s when I decided to ADOPT a 9 year old with early emotional neglect and trauma ( with the expected BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS) into our family. It wasn’t easy… but he is now 26 years old, living independently, self supporting, doing website design , graphic art projects, and performing regionally with his fiancé in a music group( and added the first GRANDDAUGHTER to the family last year ).
I’m SO PROUD of what he’s accomplished…despite the bumps in the road. His Adoption Social Worker told me at his ADOPTION hearing that the adoption team had decided ( but not shared with me) that if our family placement fell through ( after 4 other foster placements), he was likely going to be placed in a RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT CENTER until he “aged out” of the system.
Given his current success…that indeed would have been SAD!
Skibum says
Joe, thank you for your reply. The work you and others in your field do is important, and I’m glad the young boy you took under your wing is doing well today, thanks to your mentoring and guidance.
I hope you can agree that not every young, troubled individual’s life would turn around and become a productive member of society no matter if they had caring parents or not, or someone like you in their lives to guide them. Some people, unfortunately, are just bad and on the wrong path as an intentional, provocative and ultimately destructive choice.
In my 29-year law enforcement career dealing with many different types and personalities of juveniles, the majority of them were followers who acted compulsively and just wanted to fit in with, and gain the “respect” their friends, often to be seen as strong and feared by others as a means of survival.
Some young people have the the capacity and desire to be predatory criminals and grow up preying on others because that is what they have decided to do with their life, and no measure of mentoring or guidance from family or therapists… or court judges are likely to alter a path downward spiraling criminal behavior that someone is determined to choose.
The red flags I see in this 15-year old is not just the continuation of crimes but the escalation of more violence to include carrying a gun. Everyone in society should be alarmed by this type of criminal escalation from teens because it is common for teens that age to believe they are invincible, and that can turn a dangerous situation into a deadly situation quickly.
There is hope for everyone, I guess, but from his criminal history and current crimes, he is going to be a lost cause unless HE makes the choice to change his life around. Nobody can do that for him, no matter how much someone tries.
HayRide says
sounds like his parents need some time too, if they haven’t spent any time with him as he was growing up
How could this young man not know right from wrong if it wasn’t taught to him by loving parents?
Greg says
This judge is way too soft on repeat offenders. She has NO business being a judge.
Land of no turn signals says says
Don’t worry we will see him again not if but when he’s arrested for murder.
FedUp says
Welcome to the big leagues.
Teen says
This generation is ruined