[Spam] Family says law enforcement can 'do better' after 13-year-old slashed allegedly by black repeat offender

The family of a 13-year-old boy who survived a near-fatal throat slashing 
on the Daytona Beach Boardwalk on Valentine’s Day is expressing outrage 
after learning the suspect was out on the streets despite a lengthy 
criminal record.

Jail records show Jermaine Lynn Long, a registered sex offender, was 
released just four days before the random attack on Sullivan Clarke.

Long faces pending charges from an incident in January when he allegedly 
assaulted two men with a knife and an eight-foot pole.

Prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue the allegations, according to 
local reporting and jail records.

Long is also suspected of attacking another man with a sledgehammer about 
20 minutes before the teenager was cut.

“This is totally unacceptable. I cannot believe he was just released four 
days ago and then come to find out he could have been arrested the same 
day and my son — we wouldn’t even be sitting here right now,” Jared 
Clarke, Sullivan’s father, told “The Ingraham Angle” Wednesday.

Long is a registered sex offender in Nebraska, convicted of sexual assault 
of a minor. He was also found guilty of petit theft and drug possession.

https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/jermaine-lynn-long-
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Jail records show Jermaine Lynn Long, a registered sex offender, was 
released just four days before the random attack on Sullivan Clarke.
Volusia County Jail

Sullivan was talking on the phone while walking with his parents when the 
attack occurred.

“Out of nowhere, he came with a box cutter like that behind me and got 
this side of my neck… I happened to be turning my head at the time. So he 
just missed this part of my throat,” Sullivan said, gesturing to the front 
of his neck. “And he also, by some miracle, didn’t hit my jugular either.”

Doctors told the family if the cut had been one millimeter deeper, the 
attack would have been fatal. Sullivan received 13 stitches.

Long now faces two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, 
according to Volusia County Jail records, and was granted a $50,000 surety 
bond.

Sullivan’s mother, Lori Clarke, challenged law enforcement to do more.

“It’s just shocking that he could be out on the streets. He’s fallen 
through the cracks so many times… and we know that the state of Florida 
can do better and that we are going to put this horrible pervert away 
forever.”

She added that Sullivan has had nightmares since the assault and that his 
11-year-old brother, who saw “his brother’s neck split open,” might have 
been traumatized by the event.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/20/us-news/florida-teen-sullivane-clarke-
slashed-by-sex-offender-jermain-lynn-long-in-random-daytona-beach-attack/