Palm Coast Man Arrested for Alleged Sexual Abuse of Stepdaughter

Gregory Smith, a 45-year-old resident of Palm Coast’s P Section, has been arrested for allegedly committing sexual abuse on his underage stepdaughter for multiple years, according to court records and an announcement from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Smith reportedly admitted much of what he was said to have done to the victim’s mother over Facebook Messenger.

The victim’s mother contacted the FCSO on June 19th to report what had occurred. She told deputies that her daughter was abused repeatedly by her ex-husband, and that the offenses had only stopped once she confronted him. The two had been married for ten years, with Smith taking on a father role to the girl. The abuse is believed to have occurred from 2013 to 2019.

Once she learned about what had happened, the mother was said to have contacted Smith over Facebook Messenger. He reportedly admitted that for a prolonged time period on a frequent basis he’d touched the girl’s genital area with his own genitals, performed oral sexual acts with her, and initiated penetration with his fingers. The messages in question were lost when Smith reportedly deactivated his Facebook account.

Smith was contacted by two FCSO detectives, who say they were able to obtain an admission to several inappropriate sexual actions conducted with the victim. At least some of the incidents occurred when the victim was 14 years old, though it’s unclear whether things are believed to have started earlier than that. In communication with detectives, Smith’s arrest record says he admitted he knew the actions were wrong and that he didn’t know why he’d done them. A no-contact order between Smith and the victim and her mother was signed by a judge on Saturday.

On Friday, Smith was arrested by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at his Bunnell workplace. He’s been charged with five counts of sexual battery by a familial authority on a victim 12 to 18 years old, plus two counts of lewd/lascivious molestation on a victim 12 to 16 years old by an offender 18 or older. He’s been at the county jail ever since with no bond.

“This is heartbreaking,” said Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly. “This pervert took this child’s innocence away. No child should ever be a victim of sexual abuse—especially at the hands of someone in a position of authority and trust. It took a lot of bravery for this young victim to come forward. Our focus now is to provide support for the victim and the victim’s family so they may find justice and healing as they work through this traumatic experience and for this dirtbag to spend the rest of his life in prison.”