A registered sex offender is facing more charges after Flagler County detectives say he choked an 11-year-old boy, tied him up and forced him to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana for three days at a campsite.
Flagler County deputies located the missing 11-year-old boy from St. Louis County. Johns when they pulled 60-year-old Darnell Hairston off US 1 on New Year’s Eve.
Authorities received a tip that Hairston, a known sex offender, was seen with two teenagers.
During the traffic stop, the 11-year-old boy told deputies he had been kidnapped, and believed Hairston was going to kill him. As deputies attempted to arrest Hairston, body camera video shows Hairston running and trying to grab a deputy’s gun, and later being tackled by deputies.
While deputies were making the arrest, deputies said 15-year-old Junior Bishop took off in Hairston’s truck, nearly hitting a deputy. Bishop later collided with a deputy’s cruiser.
A newly released arrest affidavit says the 11-year-old victim was in a Snapchat group chat with Junior Bishop. The report says the victim told Bishop about a sexual assault on his friend that Sheriff Rick Staly says may have involved Darnell Hairston.
“Hairston thought this individual had information that could put him in jail. And that resulted in him and Junior Bishop, the 15-year-old, creating a plot to lure this 11-year-old boy to a rural area of Flagler County,” Staly told Channel 9.
The report says the victim encountered Bishop near Fredrick Street and East Deep Creek Boulevard and later went to a nearby wooded area. There, the victim said he saw blankets, pillows, beers, camping chairs, and a large kitchen knife. The report says “Darnell [Hairston] then he came after the victim and choked him to the point that he couldn’t make a sound or breathe and he quickly passed out.”
The victim said that when he woke up, they put tape over his mouth and tied him with shoelaces and extension cords. The report says he was fueled with alcohol and marijuana.
The victim told the investigators, when they left the campsite, he was forced to travel with a blanket on him the whole time.
The report says Hairston told investigators he knew the 11-year-old boy was missing from St. Louis County. Johns, however, could not tell investigators a reason why he never told the victim’s parents. Hairston claimed to investigators that he only wanted to fish with the victim.
The report says Hairston knew the victim because he repaired ATVs in the St. Louis County area. Johns. Deputies are now thanking the caller who reported seeing Hairston, a known sex offender, with two children.
“It potentially saved this kid’s life, and that’s pretty amazing. It just goes to show you if you see something, I mean literally call it, I mean something,” said Deputy Chief Joe Barile.
“My detectives, and from what I was informed about this case, I think they all believed that he was going to die that night. And our victim felt that way too. He was really scared,” said Sheriff Rick Staly.
Friday, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hairston for kidnapping of a child under the age of 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon. Detectives served the warrant at the Perry Hall Sheriff’s Detention Facility, where Hairston was already being held on a $125,000 bond for the prior arrest. He is now being held without bond.
Bishop is currently in the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Sheriff Staly says that the Bishop may be facing additional charges but that he is not cooperating with their investigation.
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