FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — A registered sexual predator is back behind bars less than 12 hours after being released from state prison, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say 45-year-old Gabriel Pardo was released from a Florida state correctional facility Thursday night and dropped off at a bus stop along State Road 100 in Flagler Beach around 10:17 p.m.
As part of his release conditions, Pardo was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor and ordered to report to the Florida Department of Corrections Probation and Parole Office in Bunnell at 8 a.m. Friday.
Authorities say Pardo never showed up.
Instead, investigators say GPS data revealed Pardo walked more than six miles overnight to a Palm Coast neighborhood where he had previously committed sex crimes against multiple children.
The location was approximately 10 miles from the probation office where he was required to report.
Probation officers alerted the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office early Friday morning after Pardo failed to check in and his GPS monitor showed him near the scene of his previous offenses.
Detectives and state probation officials, tracked Pardo’s movements and located him walking along Old Kings Road.
During questioning, investigators say Pardo initially denied going to the home before later claiming he was only trying to orient himself and did not realize he was required to report to probation that morning.
He also told detectives he had no intention of contacting any victims.
Detectives say there is no indication Pardo entered the residence or made contact with anyone there.
Authorities later confirmed the victims no longer live at that address.
Sheriff Rick Staly sharply criticized Pardo’s actions following the arrest.
Pardo is a registered sexual predator stemming from a 2018 case in which authorities say he repeatedly sexually abused two children in his care over several years and molested a third child during a sleepover.
In 2019, he was convicted on multiple sexual battery charges and sentenced to eight years in state prison, followed by 15 years of sex offender probation, deputies said.
Deputies arrested Pardo on a violation of probation charge.
He was transported to the Flagler County jail, where he is being held without bond.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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