A Daytona Beach man has been arrested following allegations of sexually assaulting a minor, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office reports. The suspect, 25-year-old Dasani Ford, faces charges of Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor. This charge brings with it the weight of up to 15 years imprisonment under Florida law if the victim is 16 or 17 and the perpetrator is 24 or older. This news follows an investigation that began in late 2024 after the incident was initially reported to law enforcement.
According to details from the case reported by Flagler County Sheriff's Office, on November 8, 2024, Ford allegedly took the juvenile victim from a McDonald’s in Palm Coast to a local Target and subsequently drove her to an undeveloped area where the sexual assault was said to occur before dropping her off at a Panda Express, the investigation took shape from there, after being triggered by a response to a local hospital concerning the victim's report.
After examining the evidence, the FCSO's Major Case Unit successfully obtained a warrant for Ford's arrest last Wednesday.
Ford is currently held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility with bail set at $50,000. Before the incident leading to his arrest, it was found that Ford and the victim had been engaged in a consensual sexual relationship. The investigation by the detectives has revealed that, albeit consensual, it falls afoul of Florida's strict age of consent laws.
