A 21-year-old Palm Coast man who tried to arrange a last-minute flight out of Florida while detectives closed in on him has been sentenced to five years in state prison, followed by a decade of sex offender probation, after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage girl and recording part of the encounter on her phone.
Micah McGuire pleaded guilty on Wednesday to lewd or lascivious battery and promoting a sexual performance by a child, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols handed down the five-year prison term and 10 years of sex offender probation the same day, the sheriff's office said.
The case traces back to April, when the sheriff's office Cyber Crimes Unit began looking into a reported sexual offense involving a juvenile, according to Observer Local News. The teenage victim told detectives she had been assaulted by a man she knew only as “Micah,” and investigators eventually identified him as McGuire.
Investigators Say He Recorded the Assault on Her Phone
Detectives said McGuire engaged in unlawful sexual activity with the teenager and recorded part of the encounter using the victim's own cellphone, per the outlet's reporting. Florida's lewd or lascivious battery statute, which the outlet's reporting on the charges cites, covers sexual activity with someone 12 years of age or older but younger than 16, according to Florida Statutes § 800.04. Separately, the charge of promoting a sexual performance by a child is classified as a second-degree felony under state law, and a convicted adult faces a mandatory minimum five-year prison term except as otherwise provided, per Florida Statutes § 827.071, which defines a child as anyone younger than 18.
As the investigation closed in, McGuire told detectives on May 29 that he planned to move to Denver on June 3 because he wanted to get “out of Florida,” the outlet reported. That same day, he began arranging a ride to Orlando so he could catch a flight to Colorado, according to investigators cited in the report.
Detectives Say He Tried to Slam the Door During His Arrest
Detectives arrested McGuire outside his Palm Coast residence that same day, the sheriff's office said. When they told him they had a search warrant to collect his DNA and cellphone, the sheriff's office said McGuire stepped back inside his home and attempted to slam the door on them before he was taken into custody. Investigators said he resisted detectives during the encounter.
McGuire was originally arrested on charges of lewd or lascivious battery, promoting a sexual performance by a child, and resisting an officer without violence, the outlet's report states. Sheriff Rick Staly said McGuire wanted to leave Florida before detectives could catch up with him, and that he has now been sentenced to prison and probation instead. Staly commended the agency's cyber crimes and digital forensics detectives for stopping McGuire and ensuring he answered for the offense.
As of Friday, McGuire remained at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility awaiting transfer to Florida Department of Corrections custody, according to the same report. The sheriff's office said McGuire had previously been arrested on charges including written or electronic threats to kill, driving without a valid license, obstruction without violence, and violation of probation.
