FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — Junior Bishop, age 15, has been charged as an adult in connection with a kidnapping investigation involving Darnel Hairston, a 60-year-old registered sex offender.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Bishop after a traffic stop on Dec. 31, 2025, where he fled the scene by stealing Hairston’s vehicle.
Bishop’s arrest comes after authorities received a report about Hairston traveling with two juveniles. During the traffic stop, Bishop was implicated in the incident as a possible co-conspirator in the kidnapping of a missing juvenile. Following his arrest, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly emphasized the seriousness of the charges against Bishop.
Staly stated, “This kid was already on probation for a violent offense when he committed these new felony crimes,” highlighting Bishop’s troubling history and the necessity for adult charges.
Bishop now faces several serious felony charges, including aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and grand theft of a motor vehicle, both classified as first-degree felonies.
If convicted, Bishop faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 30 years in prison for each of the first-degree felonies.
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