A Marion County man was arrested Sunday after deputies say he admitted placing a tracking device inside a diaper bag used for his juvenile daughter, leading to a dispute over whether the child’s mother knew she was being tracked.
Jayson Myles Duncan, 45, was arrested Sept. 28 and charged with installing or using a tracking device without consent, a felony. His bond was set at $5,000, according to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit.
The investigation began after a woman contacted law enforcement when she discovered a Samsung Galaxy SmartTag sewn into the black-and-white diaper bag she uses for her juvenile daughter.
According to the affidavit, the woman told deputies she had never seen the tracking device before and did not know it was inside the bag. She said she learned about it while visiting another person, who told her about the device after speaking with Duncan by phone.
Deputies wrote that the diaper bag had previously been in Duncan’s possession for a period of time earlier this year. The woman told investigators that, outside of that period, Duncan had not had access to the bag.
A witness interviewed by deputies offered another piece of the story. According to the affidavit, the witness said he had recently been on the phone with Duncan when Duncan mentioned placing a tracking device inside the woman’s diaper bag. The witness said the conversation had occurred roughly four or five months earlier, but the subject came to mind again while the woman was visiting him.
When deputies spoke with Duncan by phone, he agreed to talk after being advised of his rights and acknowledged placing a Samsung Galaxy SmartTag in the diaper bag, according to the report.
Duncan allegedly told investigators that he and the woman shared the diaper bag at one point and that he installed the tracker only to keep track of their daughter while she was with a babysitter.
He told deputies he placed the SmartTag inside the bag sometime between July and August 2025 and claimed the woman knew about it. Duncan also reportedly said he forgot the tracking device remained in the bag after it was returned.
Investigators, however, noted that the tracking device still appeared to be functioning when it was discovered. The deputy also wrote that the witness’s account and the woman’s decision to immediately contact law enforcement after learning about the device supported her statement that she had not previously known it was there.
Duncan was arrested at his Ocala residence and transported to the Marion County Jail without incident.
