DeSantis Says Appointed Palm Beach Clerk Could Face Death Penalty Over Child Sex Abuse Charges

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says the man he appointed to serve as Palm Beach County’s clerk of court could face the ultimate punishment if the child sex abuse allegations against him lead to a qualifying conviction.

Michael Caruso, a former Republican state lawmaker and once-trusted DeSantis ally, was arrested Tuesday on five felony charges involving a child.

DeSantis did not hedge when reporters asked him about the case.

His former ally, he said, could be “in for a world of hurt.”

Christina Pushaw shared DeSantis’s complete response, including his confirmation that state law enforcement initiated the investigation:

Fox News reported Wednesday that DeSantis pointed directly to the capital-punishment law he signed in 2023. That law allows Florida prosecutors to seek the death penalty in certain cases involving the sexual battery of a child under 12.

The governor said Florida was the first state to restore that punishment for child predators and made clear that he remains proud of signing it.

DeSantis also said Caruso was thoroughly vetted and well regarded when he received the appointment. Once state investigators were prepared to make the arrest, however, the governor said removing him was an easy decision.

That is how equal justice is supposed to work. A political appointment is not a shield, and a personal alliance is not immunity.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the arrest Tuesday morning and said the investigation remains active:

The Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis announced Caruso’s appointment one year ago. The appointment took effect on August 19, 2025, after Caruso had served in the Florida House since 2018.

Caruso, a certified public accountant and attorney, was chosen to replace former clerk Joseph Abruzzo. The position placed him over court records, public funds and other critical Palm Beach County functions.

The governor’s announcement highlighted Caruso’s previous work as the owner of a forensic-accounting firm. It also listed service on the Delray Beach Police Advisory Board, the West Atlantic Redevelopment Coalition and the city’s Parking Management Advisory Board.

Caruso had represented House District 89 from 2018 through 2022 before moving to District 87. He earned a business-administration degree from George Washington University.

That appointment is now suspended, and the criminal case has moved into court.

WPTV reported that Caruso appeared before a Palm Beach County judge Wednesday and remained in custody pending transport to Orange County. A request for an extradition bond was denied.

The judge also imposed a broad no-contact order covering the alleged victim, immediate family members, witnesses and anyone under 18. Caruso’s attorney said his client is innocent and intends to fight the charges.

The Palm Beach proceeding did not decide probable cause because the allegations originated in Orange County. The judge set a September 2 review date so Orange County officials would have time to transport Caruso.

WPTV also reported that Shannon Ramsey-Chessman, the clerk’s chief of staff and chief deputy, was appointed interim clerk. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is overseeing the transition and guarding against the removal of files or records.

WPTV posted the first-appearance update Wednesday:

The current charges include kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a child, and child abuse causing mental injury.

Charges are allegations, not convictions. Whether prosecutors seek a capital charge will depend on the evidence, the grand-jury process and the exact offenses ultimately pursued.

The Florida Senate’s official summary of HB 1297 explains that capital sexual battery applies when an adult sexually batters a child under 12 or injures the child’s sexual organs while attempting that crime. A conviction can result in death or life imprisonment without parole.

The law requires jurors to find at least two aggravating factors unanimously before a defendant becomes eligible for death. At least eight jurors must then recommend a death sentence.

Florida enacted the law in direct defiance of existing U.S. Supreme Court precedent against capital punishment for a non-homicide child-rape conviction. State lawmakers explicitly said they intended to create a vehicle for challenging that precedent.

That means any attempt to impose a death sentence would trigger a major constitutional fight. It does not make DeSantis’s warning empty.

The governor backed the law, signed it and now says it applies without regard to political friendship.

Caruso is entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence. The child at the center of this case is entitled to privacy, protection and a justice system that follows the evidence wherever it leads.

If the allegations are proven, Caruso’s old title and political connections will not save him.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

The post DeSantis Says Appointed Palm Beach Clerk Could Face Death Penalty Over Child Sex Abuse Charges appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.

IN the summer of 2019, I was seated in the wine cellar of a walled Medieval town high above the Dordogne Valley of France, not far from Sarlat-la-Canéda, making phone calls, writing reports. I have given this story in other places and it appears as though you’re about to hear it again. Rob Skiba is a name you that you might be familiar with. Though he had made a name for himself as a Nephilim researcher, more recently Rob had taken a dive into the deep end of the pool via flat earth research. The recorded interviews I conducted between he and Rick Hummer, a fellow flat earth investigator and close friend of his, was published while still occupying that very wine cellar. Read all about it. Chicago Is Not a Mirage.

Word quickly spread. Within a few short weeks, dozens of flat earth researchers began accepting my invite for a private interview, if not a series of interviews. From a 17th-century tower built by King Louis XIV, and with a stunning view of the Alps, I sat down with Robbie Davidson, founder of the Flat Earth International Conferences, conducting multiple sessions. While staying in Dumfries, Scotland, David Weiss agreed to take part in the interviews, as did Bob Knodel of Globebusters. There were others. But when I asked the interviewees to discuss the moments that shaped their lives, among the many PSYOPs, false flag attacks, and hoaxes that were discussed, only these men committed commentary to the false 9/11 narrative.

The resulting recordings ballooned into The Unexpected Cosmology, a book which became a website and was even intended as an anthology. And of course, the following discourse was originally a chapter. It was Walt Disney who stated, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” Those sentiments remain applicable here as well. American Sensationalism: The 9/11 Interviews was always intended to be expanded upon with the inclusion of new researchers. So I’m sorry to say the project became stagnant during the Covid-19 psychodrama. I took a break to tackle other projects. We lost Rob Skiba. Rob offered hours of private conversation regarding his life but we never got around to the big one. 9/11. It was in the cards. Sadly, Bob Knodel died soon afterwards. Voices are being squeezed from an entire generation. Gnosis passes with them.

In the aftermath, the FE community became fractured. People began going their separate ways. Robbie Davidson, among a noted few others who were interviewed for the project, got up and left the movement altogether. It is not my intent to erase his or the contributions of others if only brief. They came, they went, their testimonies remain.

The original vision may have hit roadblocks but it is not forgotten. I expanded this paper a few years later to include testimony from author Pauly Hart, a dear friend of mine. I had wanted to continue that trend every year thereafter but you know how it goes. For the 25th anniversary of the attack I have redirected my efforts to its first large scale expansion, including Andrew Hoy and Darrin Geisinger into the mix. Perhaps others will lend their experiences to the recorder in time.

The following is their report.

Read the 9/11 Interviews

Watch the Interviews