Repeat Offender and Sentencing Policy

A 13‑year‑old boy, Sullivan Clarke, survived a near‑fatal throat‑slashing on the Daytona Beach Boardwalk on Feb. 14, and his family is blasting law enforcement and prosecutors after learning the suspect, registered sex offender Jermaine Lynn Long, had been released from jail just four days earlier despite a lengthy record. Jail and local reports cited in the piece say prosecutors recently declined to pursue January charges that Long assaulted two men with a knife and an 8‑foot pole, and police now also suspect him in a sledgehammer attack about 20 minutes before the slashing. Sullivan’s wound required 13 stitches, and doctors told the family he would have died if the cut had been about one millimeter deeper or struck his jugular vein. Long, a Nebraska sex offender previously convicted of sexual assault of a minor, petit theft and drug possession, is now charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and is being held on a $50,000 surety bond. The boy’s parents say their younger son saw his brother’s neck "split open" and argue Long "fell through the cracks" repeatedly, calling on Florida authorities to "do better" and ensure he is imprisoned "forever."