The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has released new details in an ongoing investigation involving the kidnapping of a St. Johns County juvenile, confirming that a 15-year-old boy has now been charged as an adult.
Junior Bishop, 15, of Hastings, is facing multiple felony charges stemming from his alleged role in a kidnapping connected to a registered sex offender. Bishop was arrested following a traffic stop on December 31, 2025, after the Flagler County Emergency Communications Center received information that 60-year-old registered sex offender Darnel Hairston, also of Hastings, was traveling through Flagler County with two juveniles inside his vehicle.
During the traffic stop, deputies took Hairston into custody. According to investigators, Bishop fled the scene by stealing Hairston’s vehicle while deputies were making the arrest. Authorities say Bishop’s potential role as a co-conspirator in the kidnapping remains under investigation.
“This kid was already on probation for a violent offense when he committed these new felony crimes,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “I commend and support our State Attorney for charging Bishop as an adult because of the seriousness of his crimes. If you commit serious adult felonies as a juvenile, especially when you are already on probation, you should expect to be held accountable as an adult. This is especially true when your actions could have seriously injured a deputy sheriff.”
Bishop is charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and fleeing and eluding at a reckless speed, both first-degree felonies, as well as grand theft of a motor vehicle. He also faces three misdemeanor charges: resisting an officer without violence, reckless driving (first offense), and operating a motor vehicle without a driver’s license.
If convicted, each first-degree felony carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 30 years in prison.
Following his first court appearance Friday morning, Bishop was transferred to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he is being held on a $133,000 bond. The investigation into the kidnapping remains active.
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