The wife of suspended Palm Beach County Clerk of Court Michael Caruso says she “will not abandon him” in the wake of his arrest on child sexual abuse charges.
"I know my husband. I love Mike, I believe him, and I believe in his innocence," Tracy Caruso said in a statement to TV station WPBF-25 on Monday. "I stand firmly beside him as he faces these serious allegations and works to clear his name."
Michael Caruso, 67, was arrested Aug. 18 following a monthslong investigation into reports that he molested a young relative between 2024 and 2025. Monday's statement marks Tracy Caruso's first public words on the matter, though investigators say she described the alleged abuse as a "life in jail kinda thing" when confronted by the child’s family in December.
Tracy Caruso did not return a request for comment. In her statement, she called the accusations false and said they don't reflect the man she knows or the life they've built together. She added that "important context" around how the allegations surfaced will come out in time, though she did not elaborate.
Her husband has suggested his first wife fabricated the allegations to "poison" the child against him. He made similar claims during 2012 divorce proceedings, telling a judge he'd been forbidden from seeing one of his sons on account of a "false sexual abuse" claim his wife made against him.
"Mike is entitled to the same presumption of innocence as anyone else," Tracy Caruso said. "Allegations are not convictions, and accusations are not proof. I will not abandon him because others have rushed to judgment."
In addition to defending husband, Tracy Caruso resigns
Tracy Caruso also said she is stepping down from public boards to focus on her husband, who Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the clerk's position in August 2025 after he had served nearly eight years in the Florida House of Representatives.
Tracy Caruso held three DeSantis-appointed public board positions with the Palm Beach County Housing and Finance Authority, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County board, and the Palm Beach State College District Board of Trustees.
"My place is beside Mike, and I intend to devote my attention and energy to standing with him through the fight ahead," she said.
Tracy Caruso added that her decision shouldn't be mistaken "for a retreat or an acknowledgement of wrongdoing."
"It is a decision about where I need to be right now: Beside my husband," she said.
Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. Reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Wife of jailed clerk Mike Caruso says 'I believe in his innocence'
