The case is the first of its kind in Florida’s 18th Judicial Circuit under a 2023 state law.
SANFORD, FL — Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against Daniel E. Rodriguez, a 35-year-old Sanford man indicted on child sexual battery and child pornography charges involving young relatives.
The decision, announced June 18, makes the case the first in Florida’s 18th Judicial Circuit in which prosecutors are seeking death for alleged child sex crimes that did not result in death. The circuit covers Seminole and Brevard counties. Rodriguez remains jailed without bond as the case moves toward arraignment.
The Seminole County grand jury indicted Rodriguez on June 9. The indictment includes two counts of sexual battery on a child younger than 12, six counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child younger than 12, five counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition, six counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and 50 counts of possession of material depicting sexual conduct by a child. Prosecutors said the charges involve two child relatives. The allegations include recording sexual abuse and trafficking child sexual abuse material online. Rodriguez has not been convicted, and the case remains pending in circuit court.
Assistant State Attorney Dan Faggard cited two aggravating factors in the notice seeking the death penalty. Prosecutors said one victim was especially vulnerable because of age and that Rodriguez held a familial or custodial position over the child. They also said that, if convicted, Rodriguez would have been found guilty of a capital felony or a felony involving the use or threat of violence. The state attorney’s office described the case as involving extreme allegations under Florida’s capital sexual battery law. The law, passed in 2023, allows prosecutors to seek death in certain sexual battery cases involving children younger than 12.
The investigation began after Sanford police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip included two digital video files that investigators said showed child pornography. Seminole County sheriff’s investigators later tied those files and nearly 300 other photos and videos to a Verizon account linked to a mobile phone number assigned to Rodriguez. Search warrants produced evidence that prosecutors said included at least six images showing Rodriguez sexually battering, molesting and exploiting a prepubescent female relative over two years. Three files allegedly showed Rodriguez exposing himself in front of a girl and a young boy relative.
In an arrest affidavit quoted by prosecutors, investigators said Rodriguez was clearly identifiable in several files by his face or body parts with specific tattoos. Prosecutors said other recovered photos showed different children, mostly girls between ages 2 and 10, involved in sexual abuse or directed to perform lewd acts. The affidavit details are now part of the public record cited by the state attorney’s office, but many facts about the children, their current condition and the full timeline of the alleged abuse remain undisclosed because of their ages and the nature of the case.
The case is likely to draw legal attention because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the death penalty is unconstitutional for child rape when the crime does not involve the victim’s death. Florida lawmakers passed the 2023 law with the stated goal of challenging that precedent. Under the statute, a person convicted of capital sexual battery involving a child younger than 12 faces either death or life in prison without parole. The law sets out procedures for a penalty phase if prosecutors seek death and a defendant is convicted. Any death sentence in such a case would likely face appeals focused on constitutional limits.
Rodriguez was arrested May 19 and booked into the Seminole County Jail, where he remains held without bond. His next scheduled court date is July 14 before Circuit Judge Melissa Souto. At arraignment, the court is expected to address the charges and plea status. The defense may later file motions challenging evidence, the indictment or the state’s notice seeking death. Prosecutors will have to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt before any penalty phase could occur.
The state attorney’s announcement places the Sanford case at the center of Florida’s expanding use of capital punishment law. The 18th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office said the allegations involve children who were related to Rodriguez and digital files that moved across the internet. Officials did not release the names of the children. The case now proceeds in Seminole County court with Rodriguez presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Rodriguez remains in custody as of June 19, with arraignment set for July 14 in Seminole County. The death penalty notice raises the stakes of the case, but the next step is a courtroom hearing on the pending indictment.
Author note: Last updated June 19, 2026.