Palm Beach County Clerk of Court Arrested on Five Felony Child Abuse Charges

Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Michael Caruso, 67, was arrested on the morning of Aug. 18 on five felony charges related to alleged child sexual abuse, and was suspended from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis the same day. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the arrest, saying it was made with substantial assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies.

Caruso has been charged and has not been convicted. He is presumed innocent, and the allegations described below are drawn from charging documents and official statements rather than from any judicial finding.

The charges

According to announcements from the Attorney General's office and reporting on the charging documents, Caruso faces charges of kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a child, and child abuse causing mental injury.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the alleged victim was one of Caruso's grandchildren, a boy under the age of 12, and the alleged conduct began in 2024 and continued until at least 2025. The Florida Press is not naming or further identifying the alleged victim, consistent with standard practice in cases involving minors.

Uthmeier indicated that additional charges are expected. The case is being prosecuted by Special Counsel Rita Peters and Senior Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Lauryn Day in the Ninth Judicial Circuit.

Custody and court status

Caruso was booked into the Orange County Jail and is being held without bail pending an appearance before a judge. The use of an out-of-county jail and an out-of-circuit prosecution team reflects the conflict that arises when a defendant holds a senior position within the local court system.

The Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller is responsible for maintaining court records, managing court filings and fees, serving as county comptroller and auditor, and administering a range of public records functions. A sitting clerk facing prosecution in his own circuit would present an unavoidable conflict, which is why the Office of Statewide Prosecution and the Ninth Judicial Circuit are handling the matter.

Under Florida law, a defendant held without bond is entitled to a first appearance within 24 hours of arrest and may seek pretrial release at subsequent hearings, subject to the court's determination on the applicable statutory factors.

The suspension and succession

DeSantis suspended Caruso from office immediately following the arrest, exercising the governor's constitutional authority to suspend county officers charged with a felony. That suspension is an executive act and carries no finding of guilt; it removes the official from the duties of the office pending resolution of the criminal case.

Shannon Ramsey-Chessman, who serves as chief of staff, chief deputy clerk and chief information officer for the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, was sworn in as clerk ad interim on the day of the arrest.

The rapid succession is a function of the office's operational obligations. The clerk's office processes court filings, collects fees and fines, issues marriage licenses and maintains official records continuously, and those functions cannot pause.

Who Caruso is

Caruso, a Republican, previously served in the Florida House of Representatives before taking the clerk's office. He was appointed to the clerk position, and news coverage of the arrest has noted his status as a gubernatorial appointee.

The clerk of the circuit court in Florida counties is ordinarily an elected constitutional officer. Vacancies between elections are filled by gubernatorial appointment, and appointees then stand for election at the next regular cycle.

Palm Beach County is Florida's third most populous county, with roughly 1.5 million residents, and its clerk's office handles one of the larger court caseloads in the state.

The statewide enforcement context

The arrest came days after Uthmeier announced that arrests for child sexual abuse crimes had exceeded 2,000 since he took office in February 2025, a milestone he marked at a press conference at Lee County Sheriff's Office headquarters in Fort Myers around Aug. 14.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement operates as the state's principal investigative agency and works alongside local sheriffs' offices and municipal police departments on cases that cross jurisdictional lines or involve public officials.

Florida's Internet Crimes Against Children task forces, operating out of multiple sheriff's offices including Brevard County's, conduct a substantial share of the state's child exploitation investigations. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office announced an arrest in a child pornography investigation on Aug. 22.

What it means for Palm Beach County

For residents conducting business with the clerk's office, operations continue under the interim clerk. Court filings, records requests, traffic citation payments and comptroller functions are unaffected by the change in leadership.

The office's role as county comptroller and auditor gives it financial oversight responsibilities distinct from its court functions, including auditing county agencies and serving as custodian of county funds. Continuity in those functions is administered through the office's professional staff.

The suspension does not itself trigger an election. Whether and when the office next appears on a ballot depends on the resolution of the criminal case and on the applicable election calendar.

What the clerk's office does

The clerk of the circuit court and comptroller in a Florida county holds a set of responsibilities broader than the title suggests. The office maintains all court records, accepts filings, collects fines and fees, issues marriage licenses, processes passport applications and maintains the county's official records including deeds and mortgages.

As comptroller, the office serves as custodian of county funds, performs the county's accounting function, and conducts internal audits of county agencies. That auditing role is designed to provide a check on county administration by an independently elected officer.

In most Florida counties the position is filled by election. Vacancies between elections are filled by gubernatorial appointment, with the appointee standing at the next regular election.

The suspension power

Article IV of the Florida Constitution authorizes the governor to suspend county officers for enumerated causes including commission of a felony. The suspension is not a determination of guilt; it removes the officer from the duties of the office while the underlying matter proceeds.

The Florida Senate holds the power to remove a suspended officer permanently or to reinstate them. That process typically follows resolution of any criminal case, and suspensions have in practice lasted for extended periods while cases proceed.

The governor also appoints a replacement to serve during the suspension in many cases. Here, the office's existing chief deputy was sworn in as clerk ad interim, which maintained continuity through the office's own succession structure.

Why the case moved to another circuit

The assignment of prosecutors from the Office of Statewide Prosecution and the venue in the Ninth Judicial Circuit, which covers Orange and Osceola counties, reflects standard conflict-avoidance practice.

A clerk of court works daily with the judges, prosecutors and court staff of his own circuit. Prosecuting him in that circuit would raise unavoidable questions about impartiality, both actual and apparent, and Florida's system provides mechanisms to move such cases.

The Office of Statewide Prosecution, housed within the Attorney General's office, has jurisdiction over offenses occurring in two or more judicial circuits and is frequently used in cases involving public officials for exactly this reason.

Reporting standards in cases involving minors

News organizations follow specific practices in cases involving alleged child victims. The Florida Press does not name alleged victims of sexual offenses, does not publish details that would identify a minor, and does not describe alleged conduct in greater detail than necessary to convey the nature of the charges.

Those practices exist because identification causes lasting harm to children who have no role in choosing whether a case becomes public, and because Florida law itself provides confidentiality protections for certain victim information in public records.

The presumption of innocence applies with equal force regardless of the nature of the charges. Charging documents contain allegations, not findings. A probable cause affidavit reflects an investigator's account sufficient to justify an arrest, which is a substantially lower standard than proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Public corruption and official misconduct cases in Florida

Cases involving Florida public officials are handled through several channels depending on the nature of the allegation. The Florida Commission on Ethics addresses violations of the state ethics code through civil proceedings. Criminal allegations go to state or federal prosecutors.

The Office of Statewide Prosecution has jurisdiction over crimes spanning multiple judicial circuits and is frequently assigned cases involving officials to avoid local conflicts. FDLE conducts the investigations in many such cases, providing an investigative agency independent of local law enforcement.

Florida has seen a number of high-profile prosecutions of local officials in recent years, including a case in which the Osceola County sheriff was charged in connection with an alleged illegal gambling operation and suspended from office. That case followed the same constitutional suspension mechanism applied here.

What the process looks like from here

Following first appearance, prosecutors file a formal charging document, which may add, modify or drop charges from those at booking. The Attorney General's office has indicated additional charges are expected in this case.

Arraignment follows, at which the defendant enters a plea. Discovery then proceeds under Florida's criminal procedure rules, which require the state to disclose evidence to the defense. Pretrial motions may address the admissibility of specific evidence.

Cases of this nature frequently take a year or more to reach resolution. Throughout that period the defendant remains presumed innocent, and the suspension from office remains an administrative status rather than a legal determination about the underlying allegations.

What's next

Caruso is scheduled to appear before a judge, and the Attorney General's office has indicated additional charges may follow. Under Florida criminal procedure, an arrest is followed by a formal charging decision by prosecutors, then arraignment, pretrial proceedings and, absent a plea, trial.

Each of those stages is distinct, and none of them constitutes a finding of guilt. A defendant remains presumed innocent unless and until convicted by a court.

The Florida Press will report developments in the case as they occur through the court record.