CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – An Orange Park High School student on Monday remained in the Clay County Jail on a $325,000 bond after he was arrested and charged with sexual battery for the second time in two months, records show.
Jarel Walker, 18, has been under investigation multiple times, records show. News4JAX on Monday contacted Walker’s relatives, who spoke on a condition of anonymity. They said at a young age, Walker was diagnosed with autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conditions they said they worked to get him professional help to have treated. But it was around age 13 when they said his mental health led to criminal sexual behavior that he could not control.
“When the sexual encounters started happening, he started getting in trouble at school,” a relative said.
At age 13, Walker was a suspect in a sexual assault case in a Kansas middle school. In September of 2021, Palm Bay police arrested Walker on charges of lewd and lascivious battery involving a 14-year-old girl. And within the last two months, he was twice charged with sexual battery by Clay County detectives. The alleged victims in the Clay County cases were teenage girls – one of whom was described as a schoolmate.
Relatives said that long before Walker moved to Florida, they desperately tried to get him help.
“I spoke with public defenders. I spoke with attorneys there. I also sent emails to get him help, just to avoid situations like this from happening,” the relative said.
Walker eventually began to get professional help, but relatives said there was a breakdown due to money to pay for the help and issues with insurance coverage, and they say there were other issues hindering his rehabilitation.
“He had to go see several different doctors through his court time and they were not able to do anything, and they kept procrastinating and wasting time,” the relative said.
Relatives say that because Walker is so young, he needs quality mental healthcare instead of being incarcerated like a hardened criminal.
“He’s never really been in the type of place he’s in right now,” a second relative said. “He doesn’t know anything about that, and I feel like he should get help instead of being in jail.”
“Basically, he’s going to learn more things in jail that he does not need to know right now, but he needs mental help,” a third relative said.
Relatives say that based on several doctors who evaluated Walker in the past, he is not competent to answer questions from police or fully understand the trouble he’s in.