Palm Beach Clerk of Courts, a DeSantis Appointee, Arrested on Five Felony Child Sex Abuse Charges

Michael Caruso, the Palm Beach County clerk of courts and comptroller, was arrested Tuesday morning on five felony charges: kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a child, and child abuse causing mental injury, according to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and an arrest affidavit released by Governor Ron DeSantis's office.

Caruso, 67, is a former Republican state representative who served in the Florida House from 2018 until 2025. DeSantis appointed him clerk of courts a year ago, almost to the day of the arrest, according to Florida Politics.

The alleged victim is Caruso's own grandson, a boy under 12, according to the affidavit and reporting from The New Republic and Florida Politics. The Miami Herald, citing anonymous sources, described the child as under five at the time of the alleged abuse. The affidavit says Caruso had "regular and unsupervised access" to the boy as a family member, including time alone with him in Orange County, Palm Beach County, and aboard a family cruise in August 2025.

According to the affidavit, the boy's father grew concerned in October 2025 after observing his son perform a sexualized act on a younger sibling. When confronted, the boy said Caruso had showered with him during the cruise and "placed his 'pp' in his mouth and 'peed' and it was 'nasty.'" In a follow-up interview with investigators, the boy also described Caruso touching and fondling him around Thanksgiving 2024, and a separate incident during a fishing trip.

Caruso denied the allegations when confronted by the boy's father in December, according to the affidavit, but allegedly asked the father not to tell anyone. "If you tell anyone I will get arrested. I will just go away," Caruso reportedly said, according to The Daily Beast's account of the affidavit. In a later recorded conversation cited by the Daily Wire, Caruso allegedly said, "If you report this to the authorities there won't be any of me left, I can tell you that."

Caruso also pointed to his ex-wife, Beverly, suggesting she may have influenced the child's account, calling her "evil" and saying she could have "fabricated the allegations," according to the affidavit as reported by The New Republic. Florida Politics and the Miami Herald both note that Beverly Caruso accused her ex-husband of sexually abusing a child during their 2012 divorce proceedings in Palm Beach County. Caruso denied that allegation too. The Herald reports the matter was also the subject of confidential reports to the Florida Department of Children and Families.

DeSantis suspended Caruso from his post immediately after the arrest, issuing an executive order that laid out the charges. Asked at a news conference whether he knew about the prior allegations before appointing Caruso, DeSantis said flatly, "Of course not." He said Caruso "had a clean vet, he was well-regarded in the community," and called the decision to remove him "very easy" once the new allegations surfaced. Shannon Ramsey-Chessman was sworn in as interim clerk, according to the Daily Wire.

DeSantis also noted that Florida has a death penalty statute for convicted pedophiles and warned Caruso "is going to be in a world of hurt" if found guilty. That statute, created by HB 1297 in 2023, makes sexual battery against a child under 12 a capital offense. The Daily Wire points out the political irony: Caruso voted for that bill as a state representative. But as of this arrest, Caruso has not been charged with sexual battery, only the five felonies listed above, and the Daily Wire is careful to note the death penalty statute does not currently apply to the charges he's facing.

Uthmeier said the investigation "is ongoing" and that "additional charges could follow," according to the Daily Wire. Caruso is being held without bail in Orange County Jail. No attorney has been publicly identified for him, and he has not issued a public statement.

The victim's attorney, Lisa Haba, called the arrest "a decisive line in the sand" and said her firm intends "to make sure this survivor's voice is heard through every step of this process." Separately, Haba criticized DeSantis's office for releasing an affidavit containing details she said could identify the child, calling it "abhorrent" in a statement posted to her firm's website.

Caruso was a reliable DeSantis loyalist, backing him during his 2024 presidential run, including a trip to Iowa, and casting the lone Republican vote against a legislative immigration package that clashed with the governor's agenda, according to Forbes. He was running unopposed in Tuesday's Republican primary for reelection to the clerk's post. It remains unclear whether he'll stay on the November ballot.

The case now moves to Orange County, where prosecutors will decide whether to pursue the additional charges Uthmeier has signaled may be coming, and whether the alleged conduct described in the affidavit could eventually support a sexual battery charge that carries the death penalty option under the law Caruso himself voted to pass.