Palm Coast’s Kristopher Henriqson, 47, a Federal Felon, Charged with Raping Child in His Custody; Could Face Death Penalty

Kristopher Henriqson, a 47-year-old resident of Lindsay Drive in Palm Coast and a federal felon who served prison time on fraud and identity theft, was arrested late Monday night and booked at the Flagler County jail on two capital felony counts of raping a child younger than 12, a child he was caring for.

The charges, relatively a new law the Florida Legislature passed in 2023, makes him eligible for the death penalty if the State Attorney decides to seek capital punishment, and if Henriqson is convicted at trial. Neither is likely: Prosecutors have been reluctant to seek death in such cases, not relishing being a test case that would almost certainly be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2008 ruled that the death penalty option in those cases is unconstitutional. That makes Florida’s law currently unconstitutional.




Alternately, prosecutors could seek the death penalty as a tactic, as was the case in December 2023 when Joseph Andrew Giampa, a 26-year-old Lake County man, became the first Floridian to face the possibility of death under the new law. He pleaded out instead within weeks and was sentenced to life in prison. That was the penalty for the crime before the 2023 law, and it’s the penalty state attorneys typically seek, including in a few cases in Flagler County.

Henriqson seems to have run a business out of his house and did not have a job away from home, hence his presence around the child: his LinkedIn page lists him as the general manager of Onward Transport for more than a decade. He had earned an associates degree in business administration from Bethune Cookman College in 2000.

He also faces rape child on a child older than 12 but younger than 16–the same child: the abuse allegedly started when she was 9 and carried on past her 12th birthday to as recently as last week, always when the child’s mother was at work. Henriqson also faces three drug charges, including a first-degree felony of possessing a controlled substance with intent to sell, and within proximity of a school, suggesting to law enforcement that he may have been selling drugs from his home, which he bought almost three years ago for $260,000.
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The child herself brought the alleged abuse to the attention of a school counselor on Monday. She detailed the abuse to authorities, including in a forensic Child Protection Team interview. She said Henriqson would offer her $10 to $20 at a time in exchange for assaulting her, gave her access to a computer tablet as a reward afterward, and exposed her to pornographic materials. According to his arrest report, Henriqson allegedly abused her two to three times a week for his gratification.

Flagler County Sheriff detective Adam Gossett, the lead detective in the case, coordinated a controlled phone call (a recorded call in which Henriqson was not aware that law enforcement was listening) in which Henriqson allegedly admitted to committing multiple assaults. He had been in custodial authority for five years over the child and her brother.

He was booked on no bond on the two capital charges, and on $150,000 bond on the led and lascivious charge. Assistant State Attorney Jason Lewis was assigned to the case, as was a public defender. Henriqson is subject to a no-contact order regarding the alleged victim, and a prohibition on unsupervised contact with minors, though he is not likely to have such contact: a judge is unlikely to allow a lower bond. He is to be arraigned before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols on March 18.

In 2010, Henriqson was charged federally on six counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and aggravated identity theft. He pleaded and was sentenced to two years in prison,  followed by three years of federal probation, when he was prohibited from self-employment without permission from the court, and was ordered to substance abuse treatment.

Henriqson has two biological children from a previous relationship, one born in 2001, one in 2005.