PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – A Putnam County man was arrested on multiple charges of sexual battery on a child following an investigation from 2021 that stemmed from a tip.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said a school administrator submitted a tip to the Florida Abuse Hotline concerning a student possibly being a victim of sexual assault.
An email that was sent through a school account to other students was flagged because of profanity and the administrator who reviewed it believed the victim was being sexually assaulted, PCSO said.
The Department of Children and Family started an investigation with the PCSO when the victim told investigators that 49-year-old John Hudson started the alleged sexual abuse in 2016 when the victim was 11 years old and lasted until the spring of last year.
Investigators said Hudson was known to the child’s family.
The victim told investigators that the alleged sexual abuse increased during COVID when schools were not open and the victim was virtually attending school at home.
Investigators filed an injunction to prevent contact between Hudson and the victim.
A search warrant of Hudson’s home on Mellon Road was issued in May 2021 and investigators said several items were collected for DNA processing.
The items were sent to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab for testing and the results were received on July 2022, according to investigators.
Upon review of the evidence, a warrant was issued for Hudson’s arrest.
He was arrested Monday and charged with four counts of capital felony sexual battery on a child under 12, two counts of first-degree felony of sexual battery by custodian on a victim under 12 and on life felony for tampering with a victim/witness.
“Some of the worst child abuse imaginable to be honest with you,” Putnam County Sheriff Gator DeLoach said.
Four of the six sexual abuse charges against Hudson are capital charges. Florida lawmakers recently passed Senate Bill 450 that makes capital sexual battery on a child under the age of 12 punishable by death. Governor DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law.
If convicted, Hudson would be spared the death penalty because his alleged crimes occurred before the bill became law.
DeLoach supports the bill.
“Harsh reality is people who abuse children in this manner are sick, twisted deranged individuals with no sense of self-worth,” DeLoach said.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst LaKesha Burton also support the bill because aside from being a former law enforcement officer, she makes it known that she knows what it’s like to be sexually abused as a child.
“As a survivor of childhood sex abuse, I can tell you that there is no penalty too harsh when you consider the effects this type of crime has on victims. They live with the trauma for the rest of their lives because of this horrific crime,” Burton said.
Burton said more education, prevention, interventions, and safe spaces where children feel comfortable speaking up are what’s needed to crack down on child sexual assaults
In 2012, he was the suspect in a sexual assault case involving another child, but the case was dropped after the victim recanted the story of what happened.
Investigators may look at that 2012 case to see if it’s worth reopening.
If you know of a child being abused, you can call the child abuse hotline at 800-962-2873 or call the Monique Burr Foundation at 904-642-0210.