- April 25, 2024
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The owner of the Jimmy's Hang Ten restaurant in Flagler Beach has been charged with molesting a girl over whom he had custody.
Deputies arrested 60-year-old suspect James Harris after the 14-year-old victim used her cell phone, placed on a nightstand, to capture video of Harris walking into her room naked at night and touching himself sexually while she was in bed pretending to sleep.
Harris also used a cell phone to take pictures or record video while in the victim's bedroom.
The victim told her father, who contacted the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office on July 1.
Deputies reviewed the video, which showed what the girl and her father had said that it would.
Under Florida law, it is generally illegal to record someone without their consent, but a 2015 amendment makes an exception for juvenile victims who are recording evidence of sexual abuse.
It's the second recent local case in which a child victim has video recorded evidence of sexual abuse: 50-year-old Charles Swindell was arrested in November of 2020 after a victim used a tablet to record him when he tried to assault her.
Deputies arrested Harris on July 3 and confiscated his cell phone for forensic analysis.
“I want to commend the victim for not only coming forward but also for turning the tables on her abuser by capturing him committing the offense,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. “This man was a trusted figure in his victim’s life. ... I’m glad we were able to get him before he hurt his victim further.”
Harris is charged with molestation of a juvenile under the age of 12 and with lewd and lascivious exhibition of a juvenile under the age of 16.
