Judge grants bond for suspended Palm Beach clerk of court, Michael Caruso, accused of intra-familial child sex abuse

A judge granted Michael Caruso — the suspended Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller accused of intra-familial child sex abuse — a $160,000 bond on Friday in Orange County. Leer en españolAttorney Donna Rotunno, who represented Harvey Weinstein in New York, sat next to Caruso, 67, during the pre-trial detention hearing, before Orange County Circuit Judge A. While on the stand in court, Caruso’s wife, Tracy Caruso, said house arrest would include a “private elevator” and “a ton of security” in Palm Beach.

“Yes, he will return to that residence. I love him,” Tracy Caruso said in court. Caruso served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2018 to 2025, when Gov.

Ron DeSantis appointed him to his current position in Palm Beach. In February, Caruso announced that he was running to keep the job on Nov. 3.Caruso didn’t have a Republican opponent during the primary.

DeSantis suspended Caruso after his arrest, but that isn’t enough to remove him from the ballot. Caruso faced charges of kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a child, and child abuse causing mental injury, records show. The investigationLaw enforcement in Orange County recorded an interview with the victim, a boy who is younger than 12 years old, and a Florida Department of Law Enforcement officer, who conducted the investigation, watched it, according to the warrant.

The alleged abuse happened while Caruso was alone with the boy in Orange and Palm Beach counties and during a Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas cruise that sailed from PortMiami on or about Aug. 24, 2025, according to the warrant. While based at the Miami Regional Operations Center, the FDLE officer, who has more than two decades of experience, conducted recorded calls between Caruso and relatives who were familiar with the allegations, according to the warrant.

“Caruso admitted that he had isolated the victim during the cruise ... denied showering with the victim,” the FDLE officer, whose experience includes serving as chief of police in Norwich, New York, wrote, according to the warrant. Caruso admitted he had faced sex abuse accusations before, according to the warrant.