Florida seeks death penalty for man accused of child sex crimes

The State of Florida announced Friday it is seeking the death penalty for a registered sex offender accused of more child sex crimes in Putnam County.

According to a May 16 post by the sheriff's office, Welaka resident Dimeco Henderson, 34, was already a registered sex offender when he was accused in April of sex crimes with two children in Putnam County.

Putnam County detectives were notified on April 30 of Henderson's possible sex crimes against the two children. Detectives spoke with the children at their elementary school and were subsequently brought to the county's child protection team for interviews.

One of the victims told investigators that Henderson had sex with them over the span of three years, giving them "nightmares," the sheriff's office said. The mother of the victim reportedly told detectives she knew Henderson was a registered sex offender, and didn't let her children near him until she was "comfortable with it." She told detectives she didn't see any red flags with Henderson and her children, the sheriff's office said.

The second victim told investigators they had been assaulted for the past year when Henderson would stay at their house.

Following interviews with the victims, Henderson was charged with lewd and lascivious battery on a victim age 12-15 and four counts of sexual assault on a child less than 12 years old. He was transported to the Putnam County Jail and held without bond.

On Friday, State Attorney R.J. Larizza announced the state would be seeking the death penalty against Henderson, which is a first for their office.

"This is the first time our office has filed this notice in a Capital Sexual Battery case since Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new law allowing a jury to recommend a death sentence for the crime," Larizza's office wrote.

Henderson was convicted in 2010 in Duval County for lewd and lascivious sexual battery with a victim 12-15 years old.

Source: WTSP-TV Tampa-St. Petersburg, Staff, June 21, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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