A Stockholm man arrested on April 30 in Florence, Alabama, on two counts of sexually abusing a child under the age of 12, has now been charged with three additional counts of the same crime, Chief Ron Tyler of the Florence Alabama Police Department said Tuesday.
The three additional charges of sexually abusing a child under the age of 12 were lodged against Daryl V. Raymond Jr., 48, on Monday. He was arrested on Saturday after two victims came forward and alleged that he had abused them at a traveling petting zoo he was working at in Florence, Tyler said Tuesday.
There are now five alleged victims.
Raymond remains incarcerated at the Lauderdale County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond. The case is under investigation.
Raymond was an employee of Jungle Safari, which after the allegations were made, Tyler said, packed up the petting zoo in Florence and moved on to the next location.
Tyler said social media has played a huge role in the case, with the mother of the first alleged victim posting a picture of Raymond on Facebook and warning parents not to let their children near him “because he was abusing kids.”
“Other parents recognized him, talked to their children, and then they came into the police department with allegations,” said Tyler. “We then went and arrested Raymond Jr. before he could leave the state.”
The chief said that investigators will be checking into his record in Maine and conducting additional interviews in the coming days.