DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Daytona Beach police arrested a 28-year-old man who they say was victimizing a 14-year-old girl after a tip from the Department of Children and Families led investigators to believe he has a history of targeting young girls, including his 19-year-old wife.
Police said a DCF agent reported that they were called to Halifax Hospital on July 20. A 43-year-old woman brought the 14-year-old victim to the hospital because she had recently learned that the girl's boyfriend, Sam Fugatt, was 28 and the pain the girl was experiencing made her believe she was pregnant with his child, according to interviews by DCF officials.
The report did not state what the victim was suffering from when she was brought to the hospital, or if she was pregnant.
Initially, the victim told investigators Fugatt was not her boyfriend, saying he was "like a brother to her." Investigators said the woman who brought the girl in told them Fugatt was "hovering" around the girl before she was brought to the hospital and spoke with her prior being admitted to the hospital.
According to the report, the girl later said Fugatt was her boyfriend and they had been sexually active. They also noted she was under the influence of what smelled like marijuana, and the woman who brought the victim in said Fugatt had been giving her drugs, according to the report. The woman also told investigators the 14-year-old would leave school for days at a time with Fugatt.
DCF officials learned that Fugatt's wife, who was 18 when the investigation started, began dating him when she was not "of age" and he "seduced her."
After being notified by DCF of the allegations, Daytona Beach police began investigating Fugatt and conducted surveillance on his home for two days.
Police followed the suspect to a nearby Sunoco convenience store and arrested him Thursday on a Volusia County felony warrant on two counts of suspicion of lewd lascivious battery on a victim under 16, child abuse and transmission of harmful materials to a minor.
According to jail records, Fugatt was arrested in 2017 for aiding minor runaways and interfering with custody. He also has previous criminal history of battery and grand theft in Volusia County dating to back to 2016.
Fugatt is being held without bail in the Volusia County Branch Jail.
Police said they believe there may be other victims targeted by Fugatt. Anyone with information about other cases is asked to contact the Daytona Beach Police Criminal Investigations Division,
386-671-5200, call Crimestoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS (8477) or text the word Crimes (274637) with an anonymous tip.