FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A Daytona Beach man was arrested on Monday after being accused of grooming and molesting a teen boy over the course of two years, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said that in May, they learned the boy had told his mother that a “family friend” — 25-year-old Daniel Rodriguez — had been molesting him.
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According to an affidavit, Rodriguez had provided the teen with gifts, money and food, even paying for one month of the family’s rent. The teen told investigators that after he researched the definition of “grooming,” he felt that it was exactly what Rodriguez had been doing to him, deputies said.
The teen explained that Rodriguez, who was 11 years older than he was, had been abusing him since 6th grade, though it finally ended in June 2022, the affidavit shows.
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During that month, Rodriguez had taken him on a trip to Tampa, where they stayed at a hotel room alone, investigators said. Rodriguez forcefully molested the teen, who later told Rodriguez that he had taken it too far, and he wasn’t comfortable with what was going on, deputies explained.
The affidavit says that after the teen came forward about the abuse in May 2023, the mother contacted Rodriguez via cell phone, and he was “extremely apologetic” for what happened.
Rodriguez confirmed the molestation and gifts given, including an Xbox and cell phones, investigators said.
Rodriguez was later arrested and faces charges of lewd molestation and lewd battery of a victim between 12 and 16 years of age. He is held on $50,000 bond.
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