Palm Beach clerk, accused in child sex crimes, appears in court. What’s next?

A former state lawmaker who Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed as Palm Beach’s clerk of courts appeared in court Wednesday morning after his arrest on child sexual abuse charges.

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Michael Allen Caruso, 67, will be held without bond as he awaits extradition to Orange County. He is facing a slew of charges, including molestation, kidnapping, luring and enticing a child, lewd and lascivious exhibition and child abuse charges.

A Palm Beach judge also ordered Caruso, who is accused of molesting a child under 12 years of age, to have no contact with the victim, his family or any minors.

The process of extraditing Caruso should take a few days. After he arrives in Orange County, he will have to again appear in bond court, where prosecutors will likely seek to have him held without bond until his trial. One of the charges — kidnapping — is a first-degree felony that is punishable by up to life in prison.

“Mr. Caruso is innocent of these allegations and intends to vigorously defend himself against these charges,” his attorney Jason S. Weiss told the Herald. “We look forward to his expeditious transfer to Orange County so that appropriate bond conditions can be set.”

Caruso, however, can request an Arthur hearing, which allows judges to consider setting bonds for defendants charged with crimes that aren’t normally eligible for bail.

At an Arthur hearing, the state has to establish that “proof is evident and the presumption great” that the accused person is guilty. This is a high burden — often considered even greater than proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Before ruling, judges also consider evidence of whether a person is a flight risk or a danger to the community.

But, under current Florida law, Caruso’s legal woes could deepen. Prosecutors could pursue an indictment under Florida’s new capital sexual battery law, which opens the death penalty on the table for sex crimes against children under 12.

In 2023, Caruso voted in favor of expanding the death penalty to certain child sex battery cases when he was in the Florida House of Representatives.

When speaking about Caruso’s arrest on Tuesday, DeSantis touted the law, which he called “the death penalty for pedophiles.”

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“If he’s convicted, he’s going to be in a world of hurt,” the governor added.

Caruso is not currently facing a sexual battery charge, although a probable cause affidavit states that he committed kidnapping when he confined the victim and “committed an act of Sexual Battery of a Child under the age of 12 years.”

It’s unclear, however, whether prosecutors will go down that route.

Allegations of abuse probed

Caruso is accused of sexually molesting the child — a relative — multiple times last year, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Office report obtained by the Miami Herald via a public records request. Those incidents, the Herald learned, prompted the criminal investigation that led to his arrest.

In the incidents that led to his arrest, Caruso allegedly exposed himself to the child while they were playing soccer. He managed to get alone with the child and touched the boy’s penis, the FDLE arrest affidavit says. Caruso played “tickle monster,” and touched the child’s buttocks and genitals later that day, the affidavit alleges.

The second alleged assault took place on a cruise ship. He lured the child away from his parents under the pretext of buying him an ice cream, the arrest affidavit says. But instead he allegedly took him away, exposed his penis and placed it in the child’s mouth. The arrest affidavit made public on Tuesday mentions a third incident — a fishing trip in Orange County during which Caruso allegedly touched the child’s genitals.

READ MORE: DeSantis suspends Palm Beach clerk accused of sexually molesting young child

A few hours after Caruso’s arrest, DeSantis issued an executive order suspending him from public office. Caruso, a Republican, is running for re-election in November to retain the top county post that DeSantis appointed him to last August.

The arrest is quite a reversal for Caruso, who was elected to the House in 2018 — the same year DeSantis was first elected governor — and served until last year.

Miami Herald staff writers Brittany Wallman, Shirsho Dasgupta and Claire Heddles contributed to this report

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This story was originally published August 19, 2026 at 12:45 PM.