PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – Palm Beach County Clerk of Court Michael Caruso has been arrested as part of a child sexual abuse investigation involving his own grandson, according to an executive order issued by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued the order on Tuesday, which suspends Caruso from his position effective immediately.
Per that order, 67-year-old Caruso is accused of sexually abusing his grandson, who is less than 12 years old and lives in Orange County with the rest of his family.
“During the period charged, Caruso enjoyed regular and unsupervised access to (the) victim by virtue of his position as a family member, including periods alone with the child in Orange County, in Palm Beach County, and aboard a family vacation in August 2025,” the order reads.
Investigators said that in October, the victim’s father learned from the boy that Caruso had showered and performed apparent sexual acts with him during a family cruise in August 2025.
“During the voyage, while in international waters, Caruso separated the victim from his parents under the stated pretext of taking the child to obtain ice cream,” the investigative report states. “Victim was away from his parent’s in Caruso’s company for at least an hour and was not taken to get ice cream.”
The victim later identified to law enforcement another occasion around Thanksgiving 2024 where Caruso had abused him, the report says.
By December, Caruso was confronted about the allegations, though he denied sexually abusing the boy. Instead, he asked whether his former spouse had interacted with the child, characterizing her as “evil” and having potentially made up the allegations “in an effort to poison the child against him,” investigators said.
Another conversation about what happened cropped up in February 2026, this time recorded at the request of law enforcement, the report says.
“Caruso asserted that the allegations were impossible because, in substance, sexual deviation is directed toward only one sex rather than two, and because he is attracted to women, he could not be a sex offender,” the report continues. “Caruso further stated, in substance: ‘If you report this to the authorities, there won’t be any of me left, I can tell you that.’”
Furthermore, the report claims that Caruso’s daughter had made previous accusations against him of “sexually inappropriate behavior,” including sexual battery.
As a result of the allegations involving his grandson, Caruso was arrested and now faces the following charges:
- Kidnapping
- Lewd or lascivious molestation
- Lewd or lascivious exhibition
- Luring or enticing a child
- Child abuse (mental injury)
Caruso is held in Palm Beach County, though he is expected to be transported to Orange County.