Last Updated: 3:32 p.m.
“I don’t know why, it just did,” Michael D. King told the girl’s mother over the phone, when she asked him what happened with her daughter, whom King is accused of raping for years starting when she was 5.
The near-daily rapes are alleged to have taken place in Palm Coast when the girl was between 7 and 10. They carried on in other counties until a few months ago, the last alleged attack taking place on March 5. The girl is now 16. King is 40.
Shortly after this story first published, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office issued a release stating King is “an illegal alien from England” who is under an immigration hold. A Flagler County Sheriff’s spokesperson could not explain King’s immigration status, though hundreds of thousands of travelers–600,000 in 2017–overstay their visas every year, some for years longer.
“We had sex,” King tells the mother in a phone call last March he didn’t know was being recorded by law enforcement. “It just happened, you know?” He asks the child’s mother if she wanted him to turn himself in. “I don’t know what I was thinking, you know, she would come on to me and I would come on to her.”
During the call, he tells the child’s mother that he is at the “embassy” in Miami. There is no British embassy in Miami, but there is a consulate, and King reportedly was attempting to flee the country. He had lived locally on the child’s mother’s dime, never working.
When the victim was interviewed by the Child Protection Team at Flagler Hospital in July, she recalled vivid details from the recurring abuse in Palm Coast. She said he would carry out the abuse when her mother was at work on overnight shifts, or when she would be asleep at home: King, she said, purposefully left doors to squeak in the house so he would know who was where. It was one of various ways he would be calculating.
She said he never used protection, tracked the victim’s periods, and, according to his charging report, “told her if her period was late, he would push her down some stairs, kick ‘it’ out of her, or she could use a coat hanger to perform an abortion herself. The suspect would tell [the victim] that she was his and he ‘owned’ her, while groping her in a sexual manner.”
She told the Child Protection Team that when she began bleeding when she was 6 or 7, after anal sex with King, he told her it was normal–just as he did regarding sexual relations between fathers and daughters: he allegedly showed her videos to that effect, stored on a computer no longer in existence.
King had known the girl since she was a few months old and was in a custodial relationship with her. The rapes, she alleges, continued when the family moved to Holly Hill, when they stayed in a hotel in the Orlando area for a month between moves, and when they moved to Gainesville. Incidents were also alleged to have taken place in Duval County.
“He knows what happened was wrong because of what people have told him, but he does not feel in his own mind that it is wrong.”
The girl’s younger brother, who was also interviewed by the Child Protection Team, told team members he knew of the abuse, “saw things happen numerous times that corroborated” his sister’s statements, and tried to tell his mother about it in 2016, but said he didn’t have any “proof.” The girl denied the abuse at the time, and when she did, her brother decided not to report any suspicious activities anymore.
In early March, the victim’s mother told King during the call recorded by law enforcement that she was unable to sleep and having anxiety over the allegations her daughter was making, and needed to know the truth. That’s when King revealed some of it, which led to his arrest.
King was arrested in Jacksonville in March and charged with a slew of child-rape charges stemming from incidents in Duval County. Detectives there in the course of their investigation traced the history of the alleged abuse across several counties, informing law enforcement in each. Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives George Hristakopoulos and Nicole Quintieri conducted their own investigation, interviewing King at the county jail in Jacksonville in July.
There King again placed blame equally on himself and on the girl, not taking account of her age, and admitted to having sex with her from the time she was 13. The report concludes: “The suspect states that he is willing to accept his punishment for what he has done with [the victim]. The suspect stated that he knows what happened was wrong because of what people have told him, but he does not feel in his own mind that it is wrong.”
A Flagler County judge signed the warrant on the Flagler Charges Thursday. The warrant would have been served King at the jail.
Given the multiplicity of charges King faces in other counties, it is not clear if and when he would be extradited to Flagler to face local charges. In all cases, he faces life felonies if convicted. He currently remains at the Jacksonville jail without bond. (A previous $1.5 million bond was revoked).
“Not only has this violent offender spent the past decade preying on an innocent child, but he is also in this country illegally,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I hope there is a special place in hell for people like him as anything less is too lenient. He is a threat to any child and I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison. Our children are the future of this country and they deserve a loving and safe childhood. This dirtbag took that away from our victim.”
The sheriff’s release, however, blared the words “illegal alien” in its headline and on Facebook, purposefully taking advantage of the King arrest to play into–and inappropriately stoke–immigrant-baiting fears focused on the ongoing debate about undocumented immigration on the country’s southern border, with which King’s case clearly has no relation.
A sheriff’s spokesperson conceded that the agency does not know the details of King’s immigration status: “I spoke with ISD in an attempt to gain more details about King’s illegal status,” the spokesperson said in an email, referring to the local agency’s detective division, “and they have asked me to refer you to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, they were the ones who made the arrest so they will be the best contact for you.”
A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office spokesperson referred an inquiry to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement for details on the hold, but a call to ICE’s media line went to voice mail, and ICE’s media-contact web pages noted that because of the federal shutdown, “Transactions submitted via this website might not be processed and we will not be able to respond to inquiries until after appropriations are enacted.”
Diane says
He can NEVER undo the damage that he has done to that poor child!
My God! She was only 5 years old when he started raping her.
He is one of the best reasons for the DEATH PENALTY that I can think of.
A PEDOPHILE should NEVER be allowed back into society. And why should
us taxpayers have to pay to keep him alive?
Keep our children SAFE. Sentence this monster to DEATH!
Agkistrodon says
Well, Well, Well, Look at what we got here. One of those LAW abiding ILLEGALS Raping an innocent LITTLE GIRL. And it just happened. I have a feeling, some things are going to happen…..We ARE a Nation of LAWS, and it is HIGH TIME to start enforcing ALL of them. Please I would like a Pro Sanctuary Person to Chime in here. Perhaps we should give this guy a green card eh?
Steve says
Hang it in the Town square for all to see
snowbird says
the chair would be too easy a death for him. If I were the parent he would suffer because I would inflict the pain myself. may become a Lorena Bobbit.
Well says
You act like no American born citizen ever committed rape, or murder, or child molestation. Slide slowly out of Trump’s backside and look around at everyday crime reports. A majority are committed by citizens against citizens. For heaven’s sake, read the FCSO daily crime logs and you will see a common theme…American, American, American, American…citizen after citizen after citizen arrested, convicted, and sent to jail. Ted Bundy=American. Jeffrey Dahmer=American. Casey Anthony=American. The man that raped me=as freaking all-American as they come. So…stop perpetuating the FALSE MYTH that ILLEGALS are rapists, murders, and molesters and no one else. The entire human race is foul, American citizenship status or not, and rapists, murderers, and molesters exist no matter your race, your country of origin, or your gender. Being an American citizen does not preclude you from being reprehensible and disgusting and a criminal.
next election says
He deserves to be put away from society for life. Betraying kids is the lowest. If staly is so worried about kids why did he just screw up flagler PAL. He and Chief Brant just screwed up the whole organization. No one will even answer the phone.
Just the facts says
This is a tragedy. However, Agkistrodon, this iillegal would not have been stopped by a wall, he didn’t live in a sanctuary city, he didn’t come from a “shithole” country.
Neither you or I know how he came in the country, wether he simply overstayed his visa, wether he came in through a legal port of entry, etc., so before you start conflating this with the current immigration issue, wait for some facts.
Lastly, how many similar crimes and worse are committed by “legal” Americans every day?
Kendall says
Maybe we need a wall across the Atlantic to protect us from those dangerous Brits.
Steve Robinson says
The several homicides committed by those in the country illegally–the ones Trump continually trumpets–are certainly tragic, though no more or less tragic than any other homicide. Every single day in this country, day in and day out, 30 people are murdered by firearm. Why is that not considered a “national emergency”?
ASF says
I hope this perp receives the “jailhouse justice” he deserves. No doubt authorities in Britian probably have a record of such abuse from this sexual deviant n their turf and may wish to extradite him for cases already pending–or they may possibly open an investigation into children he has had contact with in England, possibly going back years. This mother should be under required surveillance from Child Protective Services as long as she has minors in her care and this girl will need long-term supportive therapy for her trauma recovery.
Vinny says
This piece of human feces needs to be ” DRAWN & QUARTERED ” using 4 very big farm horses.
Just Me says
You are making it sound as if the mother did nothing when she found out. It clearly states in this article that the man set the house up so he would always hear when people were coming. It definitely sounds like he has had years of this and probably in England too….You like I don’t know anything about the situation so laying blame does this little girl or her family any help. I am sure they are all reading these articles and comments. How about encouraging words rather than beating the mom down.
Henry r says
Just a note people. Palm coast is the dumping grounds of rapiest, killer, drug lords etc. All in our neighborhoods. The state uses this towm for so called criminal rehabilitation.
PCLady says
He wont last long in Prison!
I cannot believe how many have you made this political it doesn’t matter if you’re a democrat or a republican you should be disgusted by this !! The wall has nothing to do with this at all whatsoever !
Veteran says
The point is crimes committed by illegals can be prevented by keeping them out!
Geezy says
Politics sucks. Trump is raping this country and those ignorant enough along side him…..this one guy like most crimes is the few are ruining it for the many and the many know what he did is beyond wrong. Although please remember we all live on the same planet. Americas prisons hold 99% Americans and the planets prisons hold 99.9% guilty prisoners….we are all human living on the same planet. Get over yourselves. Time we had a universal passport system and stop this segregated BS.
Flatsflyer says
How could this be going on for 11 years, had she never seen a Doctor? Had she never confided with her mother, friends or school officials? I think there is a lot more to this story than is being released.
The original woody says
A great news article to bring up the gun debate Steve,nice try.Don’t leave your young children alone with strangers especially illegal aliens.
Right says
@ Well and Steve Robinson, yes we have enough of our own home grown problem people…we dont need to add to the crime rate with other country’s problem people.
John Keppler says
It is a correct that American citizens commit horrible, unspeakable acts every day, but 100% of crime committed by people who are committing a crime by being in the country illegally is preventable by following the laws of this land. Being an illegal alien is not a race thing, this scumbag was from England. It doesn’t matter where you come from its how your here. build the wall and than devote resources that would be used to patrol vast stretches of unprotected boarder to other areas, i.e. tunnels, ports of entry, visa violations.
Rachel says
Bad people come from everywhere. They are not from just one country. Trumps wall will never work because it would have to stretch around the entire United States. And with this wall around this country we would be enclosing the horrible ones we have here to rape and pillage our children. This wall is not going to protect anyone from anything.
The Truth says
Instead of Trump demanding to build a useless wall for 5.5 billion how about him finding out why, our government isn’t checking on those who’s visa have expired, that would be a good start to get scum bags like this out of our country.
Agkistrodon says
Well, Based on Your reasoning we should stop enforcing all laws, as we have citizens that break them. And for the record THIS particular illegal IS a rapist. Just the Facts, Where exactly did I mention a wall. Frankly I do NOT care how they get here, Just that they leave when they are supposed to. NOT unlike when I go to mexico and My visa expires.
Trailer Bob says
At Steve Robinson: Now why don’t you put the number of people killed by fist, knives, axes, etc into your comment? Fact is, more people are killed by knives each day than guns. Nice try though.
Wow says
Guess we’d better stop all immigration from England since they must all be rapists.