FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A multi-agency investigation that began January 2021 resulted in the arrest of a man Tuesday who’s accused of committing violent sex offenses to two underage victims, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said.
Carlos Luis Cruise, 40, of Daytona Beach, was charged with three felony counts of lewd or lascivious molestation and is being held on no bond in Volusia County, records show.
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According to a news release, two victims ages 16 and 20 were approached by the sheriff’s office in January 2021 after anonymously reporting the alleged abuse to the Department of Children and Families’ hotline. Detectives who took the reports on Jan. 12, 2021, said the victims identified Cruise as the subject, launching a 12-month investigation into allegations of “multiple instances of violent sex offenses” that began in 2014.
The investigation was “a collaborative effort with the FCSO Major Case Unit, the FCSO Real Time Crime Center, the Daytona Beach Police Department, and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office,” the release said.
Cruise was arrested in November by Daytona Beach police on suspicion of molestation and exhibition charges, and Flagler deputies said they later obtained their own arrest warrant for Cruise and served it Tuesday, according to the release.
Also helpful in the investigation was Goose, a therapy dog who Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly commended for giving the victims the courage to come forward with information.
“I pray the victims receive the help they need to recover from this abuse and this guy stays behind bars where he belongs,” Staly said. “This is a sick and twisted individual who preyed on young children and took their innocence away.”