Brandon Raymond, 20, of Palm Coast, has been sentenced to four years in Florida state prison after pleading guilty to two counts of lewd or lascivious battery tied to a sexual relationship with a minor. Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols handed down the sentence, and Raymond will remain under strict supervision long after he leaves state custody.
According to a press release from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, deputies arrested Raymond in November 2025 after investigators determined he was involved in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a teenage victim. The sheriff’s office stated that Raymond must register as a sex offender, will be placed on sex offender probation for 11 years following his release, and is currently being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility while he awaits transfer to the Florida Department of Corrections.
“He took the innocence away and now he gets to sit in prison and think about what he did,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement released through the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. Staly praised deputies and prosecutors for building the case and urged parents to closely monitor their children’s social media use, noting that online platforms can quickly become hunting grounds for predators.
How investigators say the case unfolded
Local reporting indicates the investigation began in mid September after a parent raised concerns, and that detectives later uncovered sexually explicit messages exchanged over Snapchat and Instagram, according to AskFlagler. The outlet reports that detectives secured a search warrant for Raymond’s vehicle and other devices, and that DNA testing by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement tied the victim to items found in the car. Those findings led to a warrant in November and Raymond’s arrest on two counts of lewd or lascivious battery, the reporting notes.
Legal consequences and next steps
Raymond’s guilty plea on two counts of lewd or lascivious battery and his four year state prison sentence were detailed in coverage by Observer Local News, which republished the sheriff’s office release. Under Florida law, convictions for lewd or lascivious battery require sex offender registration and lengthy supervision, so Raymond will remain on sex offender probation for 11 years after finishing his prison term, as ordered by the court.
The case is the latest in a series of Palm Coast prosecutions that lean heavily on digital evidence and forensic testing to secure convictions. An earlier prosecution in March ended with a five year sentence in a child sex case, with coverage highlighting how online trails helped build the case. That earlier sentence was reported in detail in 5 years after child sex abuse material bust, which underscored how cyber evidence is increasingly central to child protection prosecutions.
