CCSO pretends to be child to lure man for sexual liaison

ORANGE PARK – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office posed as a child to lure a 40-year-old Jacksonville man to a what he believed was going to be a meeting with a child for sex on Friday, July 25.

Carl Renard Keller was jailed with a $150,009 bond after being arrested at the former Big Lots parking lot after agreeing to meet a child as part of an undercover chatter operation. He was charged with using a computer to seduce or lure a child, traveling to meet a minor for sex and using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony after a undercover deputy asked him to buy him cold water and clothes before the meeting.

When the deputies arrived, they found the water and new clothes in his car. They also found the deputy’s cellphone number in his phone.

His next court appearance will be on Sept. 2.

Florida Youth ChalleNGe worker charged with as fake counsellor

CAMP BLANDING – A staff member at the Florida Youth ChalleNGe Academy was arrested on Tuesday, July 22, and charged with working as a mental health counselor without a license after the Clay County Sheriff’s Office responded to a suicide by one of the students.

Gwendolyn Diane Boney-Harris, 66, of Green Cove Springs, was charged with using a title of mental health counselor/therapist without a license after a girl killed herself. According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant, Boney-Harris told the victim’s mother she was a mental health counselor. The girl was Baker Acted and taken to Baptist Medical Center Clay, where she was discharged after the physician suggested that she attend telehealth appointments. The mother said Boney-Harris would conduct the appointments in person instead.

CCSO was called to Camp Blanding on Oct. 31, 2024, after the suicide and to investigate whether Boney-Harris was actually licensed. They learned she was certified as an intern mental health counselor. A Medical Quality Assurance Investigator with the Florida Department of Health confirmed that they were also investigating Boney-Harris, as her license as an intern mental health counselor expired on March 31, 2022. According to FDOH, Boney-Harris told Clay Behavioral Health Center she was a licensed therapist. A check revealed she didn’t hold a license as a therapist.

She was released on her own recognizance and is scheduled to return to court on August 19.

One dead following boating accident on Black Creek

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – One person died, and another was seriously injured when two boats collided on the Black Creek on Sunday, July 27, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office was called at 7:47 p.m. about an accident at Treasure Point Road. CCSO then reported the collision to FWC.

The deceased's name was not released. FWC said the investigation was ongoing.

Fleming Island felon gets 6 years for possessing firearm

JACKSONVILLE – U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger sentenced Jason Stewart Karst II, 37, of Fleming Island, to six years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Karst entered a guilty plea in March 2025.

According to court documents, in April 2024, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives received a complaint from a local shooting range that Karst and another individual had been shooting fully automatic firearms at the range. Surveillance video from the range showed Karst firing a fully automatic gun as well as a separate weapon that was equipped with a silencer.

Agents obtained a search warrant for a home owned by Karst and executed the warrant on May 1, 2024. During the search, agents found five silencers, a privately manufactured firearm that was equipped with a machinegun conversion device, and a pistol that was also equipped with a machinegun conversion device inside a large safe. The guns matched the appearance of the ones used by Karst at the shooting range.

Additionally, while the agents were executing the search warrant, Karst drove up to the house. During a search of Karst’s car, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office found a white powdery substance, over 20 grams of marijuana, a scale, a pistol without a serial number, and keys to the safe.

Karst was previously convicted of multiple felonies, including two convictions for possession of marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver, possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell or deliver, attempted use of a minor to deliver a controlled substance, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Therefore, he is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law. Additionally, contrary to federal law, the machinegun conversion devices and silencers were not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record – a database maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisibeth Adams.

This case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, making our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy that strengthens PSN, based on the following core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.