The State Attorney’s Office will seek the death penalty for a Sanford man who recorded himself raping, molesting, and exposing himself to two child relatives while also trafficking child pornography.

The Seminole County Grand Jury indicted DANIEL E. RODRIGUEZ, 35, on June 9 for:

• Two counts of sexual battery on a child younger than 12
• Six counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child younger than 12
• Five counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition
• Six counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child
• 50 counts of possession of material depicting sexual conduct by a child.

It is the first case in the 18^th Judicial Circuit of prosecutors seeking the death penalty for especially heinous sex crimes against children that do not result in death. The Florida Legislature passed a law in 2023 that permits such sentencing in extreme cases. The 18^th Circuit includes Brevard and Seminole counties.

Assistant  State Attorney Dan Faggard cited two aggravators in the notice to seek the death penalty:

• The victim of the sexual battery was particularly vulnerable due to age, and Rodriguez stood in a position of familial or custodial authority over the victim.
• If found guilty, Rodriguez will have been convicted of a capital felony or a felony involving the use or threat of violence.

Rodriguez became the target of an investigation by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office after the Sanford Police Department received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that included two digital video files showing child pornography.  Investigators connected those videos — plus nearly 300 other photos and videos depicting child sexual abuse that had moved over the internet — to a Verizon account with a mobile phone number assigned to Rodriguez.

Evidence against Rodriguez, obtained through search warrants, includes at least six images of him sexually battering, molesting and exploiting a prepubescent female relative in different poses or situations over two years. Three files showed Rodriguez masturbating in front of the girl and a young boy relative.

“Daniel Emilio Rodriguez is clearly identifiable in several of these files which show his face and or body parts with specific tattoos,” the sheriff’s arrest affidavit says.

Other photos recovered through Rodriguez’s account show different children, mostly girls between the ages of 2 and 10, engaged in sex with men or being directed to put on lewd performances, sometimes in costume.

Rodriguez was arrested May 19 and remains held without bond in the Seminole County Jail. His next court date is an arraignment July 14 before Circuit Judge Melissa Souto.