- March 2, 2025
Three suspects in a March assault case that began with drinks at a Flagler Beach bar and ended with a woman sexually battered on a beach have now surrendered.
One suspect — Frank Goggans, 31 and charged with false imprisonment— remains at large, and deputies are seeking the public’s help to find him.
The three men who surrendered were all charged with sexual battery and kidnapping.
The latest to subject to surrender was Kurt Benjamin, 26. He was booked at the county jail at 12:47 a.m. Nov. 2 and is being held on $100,000 bond.
Frank Goggans’ brother Daniel Goggans, 28, turned himself in to the Flagler County Detention Facility Oct. 31 and is also being held on $100,000 bond; Charles Larkin Cowart, 30, turned himself in Oct. 30 and is being held without bond on an additional charge of violation of probation.
Detectives said the men assaulted a woman they met at Finn's Beachside Pub in Flagler Beach in the early hours of March 20.
The woman had been drinking at the bar and started talking with two men, one who was identified by witnesses as Cowart, who also goes by the nickname “Skeeter.”
Witnesses said the woman, who detectives say was incapacitated due to alcohol consumption, left the bar with the two men and wound up on the beach, where she was sexually battered by Daniel Goggans, Benjamin and Cowart. The men then transported the intoxicated woman to a hunting cabin in western Flagler County.
Frank Goggans is accused of placing the woman in his vehicle against her will and transporting her to the cabin.
The victim was physically helpless to resist at the time, according to detectives.
Daniel Goggans, Benjamin and Cowart are charged with assisting Frank Goggans with transporting the victim.
Detectives said Cowart drove the woman home the next afternoon and admitted to having sexual relations with her on the previous evening. When the victim arrived home, she immediately reported the assault to her mother, and the Sheriff’s Office was contacted.
“Our detectives have tenaciously worked on gathering the facts in this case so we could charge these four with these felony offenses,” Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre said in a statement. "The victim was violated and held against her will. These men should pay a price."
Anyone who has information on any for the four is asked to call the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at 313-4911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-8477.
Tipsters may remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
