PALM COAST, FL — A registered sexual predator was arrested by Flagler County deputies less than 12 hours after being released from state prison, after failing to report to his probation office and instead walking six miles overnight to the home where he previously abused multiple children.
Gabriel Pardo, 45, is back behind bars without bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility following his arrest on Friday morning, June 19, 2026.
GPS Monitor Alerts Authorities to Violation
Pardo was released from a Florida state correctional facility on the night of Thursday, June 18, and was dropped off at a bus stop on State Road 100 in Flagler Beach at approximately 10:17 p.m. As a strict condition of his release, he was fitted with an active GPS ankle monitor and ordered to report to the Florida Department of Corrections Probation and Parole Office in Bunnell at 8:00 a.m. the following morning to begin a 15-year term of sex offender probation.
When Pardo failed to show up for his mandatory morning check-in, state probation officials pulled his real-time GPS tracking data. The monitor revealed that instead of heading toward the probation office, Pardo had spent the night walking more than six miles from the bus stop directly to the Palm Coast residence where his historic offenses took place.
Probation officers immediately alerted Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) Major Case Detectives and the agency’s Real-Time Crime Center. Utilizing the live GPS stream, deputies quickly located Pardo walking along Old Kings Road and took him into custody without incident.
Denials and Excuses During Interrogation
During police interviews, Pardo initially denied traveling to the scene of his prior crimes. When confronted with the satellite tracking data, he shifted his story, claiming he walked to the neighborhood simply to “orient himself.” He also claimed he was unaware he had to report to probation that morning and maintained he had no intention of contacting his past victims.
FCSO investigators confirmed that Pardo did not attempt to enter the home, and detectives later verified that his past victims no longer reside at that location.
Pardo’s status as a registered sexual predator stems from a 2018 case involving the multi-year sexual abuse of two children in his care, along with the molestation of a third child during a sleepover. In 2019, he pleaded no contest to multiple counts of sexual battery and was sentenced to eight years in state prison.
Sheriff Condemns Predator’s Direct Return to Crime Scene
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly pulled no punches when addressing the rapid re-arrest, expressing severe frustration at the predator’s immediate return to the neighborhood of his victims.
“This pervert, convicted rapist, pedophile, and predator, couldn’t even make it one night out of prison before he attempted to contact the victims he assaulted,” Sheriff Staly said. “He clearly didn’t learn anything in prison. Thanks to his ankle monitor and the fast work of our detectives and parole officers, his first day of freedom ended behind bars at the Green Roof Inn, which is exactly where this predator belongs for the rest of his life.”
Pardo faces formal charges for felony violation of probation and will remain jailed pending a violation hearing in Flagler County Circuit Court.