A Florida judge let a convicted child sex predator walk free while a 5-year-old girl was still living in his house.
That little girl was Missy Mogle – and she was dead within weeks.
Now DeSantis just made that judge answer for what she did.
The Case That Changed Florida Law
Daniel Spencer was already a convicted predator when Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper sent him home.
In April 2025, a jury found Spencer guilty of traveling to meet a 15-year-old girl for sex – a conviction that should have put him behind bars immediately.
Prosecutors stood up in court and asked the judge to revoke his bond.
She said no.
Spencer walked out of that courthouse and went home to Missy – his 5-year-old stepdaughter.
What happened next was captured on security cameras inside the child's own bedroom.
Investigators recovered footage of Spencer physically abusing Missy – striking her, restraining her limbs, and forcing her face into the mattress.
Her blood was found on her pillows and comforter.
On May 19, 2025, first responders arrived to find her grandfather performing CPR on her unconscious body.
She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2039087064860287222?s=20
The autopsy confirmed she died by asphyxiation – and that she was malnourished.
"She put him out on bail pending sentence," DeSantis said at Tuesday's signing ceremony in Tampa. "And what happened between that decision and when he was sentenced? He murdered Missy. Totally preventable."
What Florida Just Did About It
DeSantis signed two bills Tuesday that prosecutors and law enforcement had been pushing for since Missy's death made national headlines.
The first – Missy's Law (HB 445) – closes the loophole Judge Baker-Carper exploited.
Under the new law, any individual convicted of a dangerous crime is immediately remanded to custody.
No bond hearings. No judicial discretion. No more 5-year-olds paying the price for a judge's bad call.
"An individual would not be eligible for post-conviction release," explained bill sponsor Rep. Sam Greco. "That's the period of time in between conviction and sentencing."
The second bill (HB 1159) takes direct aim at predators who possess child sexual abuse material.
Offenders convicted of possessing images of children under 12 involving sadomasochistic abuse, sexual battery, or sexual bestiality now face a minimum of 15 years in prison for a first-degree felony conviction – and a minimum of 5 years for second-degree felony charges.
Repeat offenders face escalating mandatory minimums.
The bill also criminalizes computer-generated child sexual abuse material – closing a loophole that predators have been exploiting as the technology becomes more accessible.
"The only way to stop it is to put these people in prison for a really long time," DeSantis said, "and that's what this bill does."
Attorney General James Uthmeier was at the Tampa ceremony and put predators on notice.
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2039076803701010634?s=20
Uthmeier said Florida is doing more than any other state to go after those who prey on children – and promised his office would pursue them with every resource available.
Florida Is Building a Record No Other State Can Touch
Since Uthmeier took office in February 2025, Florida has recorded more than 1,400 child predator arrests – a threefold increase over the prior year – and recovered more than 300 missing children in the process.
In July 2025 alone, a six-day undercover sting called "Seek and You Shall Find" put 40 predators behind bars across Ocala and Lake City.
Operation Spring Cleaning – the same Leon County Sheriff's sting that first caught Daniel Spencer – was part of that same coordinated, statewide push.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2038987385137213744?s=20
The system caught Spencer once and then handed him back to Missy.
Florida just made sure that never happens again – and DeSantis isn't stopping at the law.
Standing at the Tampa signing ceremony, he called on the Florida House to open impeachment proceedings against Judge Baker-Carper by name.
"Until you start holding these judges accountable, they're going to continue to find ways to benefit the criminal element," DeSantis said. "This was an outrage."
Florida's conservative supermajority legislature hasn't been shy about following his lead – and a judge who sent a convicted predator home to a 5-year-old girl is going to find out what that means.
Sources:
- Drew Dixon, "Gov. DeSantis signs measures designed to better protect children from abuse and predators," Florida Politics, March 31, 2026.
- "Gov. DeSantis signs Missy's Law as he calls for House to impeach judge who let her accused killer out on bond," FOX 13 Tampa Bay, March 31, 2026.
- "Predator takedown: Florida AG James Uthmeier announces 1,400 arrests of child exploitation on social media," FOX 35 Orlando, March 2026.
- "Attorney General James Uthmeier Proposes Missy's Law after Brutal Murder of Tallahassee Five-Year-Old at the Hands of Stepdad Daniel Spencer," My Florida Legal, June 24, 2025.
