Joshua Eugene Sevin, a 30-year-old resident of Lakeside Place in Palm Coast, was sentenced this afternoon to five years in prison followed by five years on the near-equivalent of sex-offender probation after pleading to two reduced charges of felony child abuse. He had originally been charged with two counts of molesting a middle-school girl. The two felony counts carried a maximum penalty of 30 years.
The plea agreement will spare Sevin a lifetime designation as a sex offender. But the condition of his probation, which he may not terminate early–as is generally the case with most other charges–will require him to abide by most of the same term that sex offenders do, with a notable exceptions: he will not be prohibited from living near schools, churches or other places where children gather.
Sevin was arrested at the Palm Coast Days Inn on Feb. 1, 2023 after a Flagler County Sheriff’s investigation determined that the two previous nights, he had molested the girl at her home as she slept, or feigned sleep, and told her how much he loved her and how much she meant the world to him. His arrest report notes that “several admissions were obtained” from Sevin during the investigation, corroborating the girl’s account. The girl had reported the incident to school staff.
Sevin’s case had been heading for trial. But at docket sounding last month–the step in the process when the trial is scheduled–his defense attorney, Ian Pickens, told the court that there would be a negotiated plea. Sentencing was deferred to today, enabling Sevin, who had been out on $70,000 bond, to spend the holidays out of prison one last time for the next five years.
The molestation charges were second degree felonies that each carried a 15-year prison penalty if he was found guilty at trial. The child abuse charges are third-degree felonies with five-year penalties.
Sevin’s probation conditions include completing a sex-offender treatment program with annual lie-detector tests at his expense, no contact with the victim, no contact with children, no contact with his own, biological children unless he’s engaged in sex-offender treatment, and has supervision, no employment or volunteering in places where children gather, no visiting such places, including parks, without prior approval from his probation officer, no internet access without a safety plan approved by the probation officer, and a prohibition on renting a post office box.
Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols pronounced sentence in a brief hearing at the Flagler County courthouse. Sevin was immediately taken into custody.
