Sex offender found with missing boy in Flagler County traffic stop; 15-year-old investigated as possible co-conspirator

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) — A registered sex offender who was recently pulled over in Flagler County is now facing kidnapping and robbery charges. A 15-year-old boy who was in the car with him and tried to drive away is also being investigated.

Darnell Hairston of Hastings, appeared before a judge who denied him bond on Sunday morning. The 60-year-old is accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old boy who had been missing for three days from St. Johns County.

“Again, probable cause was previously determined by the court. As argued by the state, the kidnapping charge and the robbery charge are both crimes that are punishable by life in prison. So, there is not the same entitlement to bond, and you’ll be held without bond on those two counts, sir,” the judge said at Hairston’s first hearing.

According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, deputies on Wednesday stopped a truck following reports of suspicious activity. Inside, they said, was Hairston and two juveniles.

Inside the vehicle, investigators said, deputies discovered the 11-year-old who had been reported missing days earlier. The boy told deputies he had been kidnapped and feared for his life.

Investigators said the child was lured to a campsite in the woods, choked unconscious, threatened with a knife and a gun, and tied up and gagged with duct tape.

“Told us that he thought they were going to kill him,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said.

Deputies said the child was forced to hide on the floor of the truck while traveling.

A 15-year-old boy who was also in the truck now faces charges after deputies said he drove off in Hairston’s vehicle, rammed a patrol car and crashed.

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said the two juveniles were in a Snapchat group where the 11-year-old warned that Hairston was a sexual predator.

Thankfully, an alert resident called police.

“See something, say something. A caller that knew his background as a sex offender, with two children in his pickup truck, and called us, and if it wasn’t for that, we might be investigating a completely different crime,” Staly said.

Investigators are looking into whether the 15-year-old may be a co-conspirator in the kidnapping. Hairston is being held without bond and is set to appear before a judge again on Jan. 27.