A Panoma Park, Florida, sexual predator released from prison on New Year’s Eve for sexually assaulting a preteen has once again been arrested, this time for allegedly raping a woman in February.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday that 31-year-old Kendrick Marclain was arrested and charged with sexual assault on a person over the age of 18.
According to the sheriff’s office, Marclain was released from prison on Dec. 31, 2023, after completing a prison term for sexually assaulting a child under the age of 12.
He registered as a sex offender with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 8, 2024, but less than a month later, he allegedly raped a woman.
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A woman told deputies that on Feb. 3, she was drinking when she got into an argument with a family member while intoxicated. After the argument, the woman said, she left, and an unknown man started to follow her.
At around 10:12 p.m., the woman called her mother and lost the connection, the sheriff’s office said. Still, the man continued to follow her until she got to a Dollar General, where he asked her for a cigarette.
The woman said the two shared a cigarette, and when she began to leave, the man grabbed her neck and hit her head against a wall.
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The victim said the man raped her and attempted to get her to go to his residence.
Her father was driving around and looking for her when she saw him and fled to the vehicle.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage and saw a man following a person who looked like the victim.
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A further investigation included the review of forensic evidence, which detectives claim matched Marclain, and identified him as the alleged attacker.
He was booked into the Putnam County Jail and held without bond.
"This is a person who was given multiple opportunities to rehabilitate, and he chooses not to," Sheriff H.D. ‘Gator’ DeLoach said. "He fails to comply with his sexual predator designation and has returned to prison several times. Clearly, this is someone who cannot function in society and now a member of our community has suffered an inexcusable, horrific trauma at his hands. There is no reason this person should ever be set free again to prey on others."
