{"id":216713,"date":"2026-04-02T22:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/216713\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T22:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:52:08","slug":"terrorized-him-florida-teen-helped-lure-missing-11-year-old-for-sex-offender-sheriff-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/216713\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Terrorized him:\u2019 Florida teen helped lure missing 11-year-old for sex offender, sheriff says"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 After a sex offender was caught with a missing 11-year-old boy<\/a> at a traffic stop back in December, a 15-year-old suspect is now being pinned as his accomplice, according to the Flagler County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

The incident happened along U.S. Highway 1 after someone called in about \u201csuspicious activity,\u201d<\/a> prompting the traffic stop, deputies said.<\/p>\n

At the time, deputies reported they found the driver \u2014 identified as 60-year-old Darnell Hairston of Hastings, a registered sex offender \u2014 as well as two juveniles. <\/p>\n

[BELOW: 911 caller gets award for help rescuing Flagler kidnapping victim from sex offender]<\/p>\n

Investigators said they learned that the 11-year-old had been kidnapped and feared for his life, but as deputies gathered more information, Hairston tried to flee, though he tripped into the road.<\/p>\n

But while deputies were busy catching Hairston, the other juvenile \u2014 15-year-old Junior Bishop from Hastings \u2014 got back into the truck and drove off, nearly striking a deputy in the roadway, the sheriff\u2019s office stated.<\/p>\n

Deputies seen piling onto Darnell Hairston (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)<\/p>\n

This reportedly kick-started a chase that eventually ended with Bishop ramming into a deputy\u2019s patrol car, causing both vehicles to crash into the wood line and allowing law enforcement to finally take him into custody.<\/p>\n

Hairston now faces charges of kidnapping, battery by strangulation, robbery with a firearm, aggravated child abuse, and resisting arrest over what investigators said he did to the kidnapped boy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Darnell Hairston (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Bishop is being charged as an adult<\/a>, facing charges of aggravated battery on an officer, fleeing and eluding at a reckless speed, grand theft of a motor vehicle, reckless driving, operating a vehicle without a driver\u2019s license, and resisting an officer without violence.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the FCSO announced that Bishop had a new charge tacked on, too: armed kidnapping.<\/p>\n

Junior Bishop, 15 (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I stated originally, I thought Bishop was involved in the kidnapping, but we just had to prove it,\u201d Sheriff Rick Staly said. \u201cOur detectives worked hard to prove Bishop\u2019s involvement after he had not been truthful during the initial investigation. In the end, our investigation showed he was fully involved in the acts to lure the victim into Hairston\u2019s grasp, and they terrorized him together.\u201d<\/p>\n

During an interview with the missing child, investigators said they learned that he had been lured to a wooded campsite in Flagler Estates, where Hairston choked him until he lost consciousness.<\/p>\n

After waking back up, the boy said, he was threatened with a knife and firearm, tied up with shoelaces and an extension cord, and had duct tape placed over his mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe child also told detectives that Hairston held him at the campsite for multiple days and made him travel on the floorboard of his truck covered by a blanket,\u201d the release continues.<\/p>\n

After searching Hairston\u2019s truck, his home in Hastings, and the campsite, detectives said they found duct tape, video surveillance equipment, and weapons that matched the child\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, an interview with Hairston revealed that he knew the boy was missing and endangered, but he couldn\u2019t explain why he kept him from his parents, detectives added.<\/p>\n

According to the sheriff\u2019s office, Hairston had been serving a 12-year sentence for three counts of false imprisonment. <\/p>\n

Deputies also said he has previous arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary with assault\/battery, cruelty toward wife, disorderly intoxication, lewd\/lascivious offenses committed upon a child, property damage, and sexual battery.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 After a sex offender was caught with a missing 11-year-old boy at a traffic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[265,4717,28,30,29,3428],"class_list":["post-216713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-crime","tag-flagler-county","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-missing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}