Man Arrested for Using Computer to Solicit Sex from Minor in Undercover Sting

Tallahassee Police arrested a 63-year-old man last week and charged him with three counts of using a computer service to solicit sex from a minor. The man allegedly contacted an undercover investigator masquerading as a minor during a May 2011 undercover sex sting operation, which was aimed at targeting Internet predators.

According to police, the man solicited the supposed minor several times throughout the two-month investigation. He allegedly had plans to meet the girl in Tallahassee.

The Tallahassee Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office teamed together to implement a search warrant for the man’s home in Florahome on June 27. His computer and electronic storage devices were confiscated.

According to Florida Today, the man is on high-risk sex offender probation and was arrested in 2006 for similar charges.

The most current tactic for police officials today is luring unsuspecting Internet users into biting the bait they provide while posing as a young child, teenager or even the parent or legal guardian of a minor. Investigators will frequent places online where young teens are likely to communicate with strangers, such as chat rooms and other online forums and engage in conversations. Undercover officials are trained to interact on the same levels as young adolescents, including how they type or text and what photo they provide.

If you are invited by someone in a chat room or on Facebook, Craigslist, MySpace or any other online socializing site to engage in sexual activity with a minor, the person on the other end could very well be an undercover official looking for someone to nibble their bait. As soon as an agreement is reached, you could find yourself charged with sexual solicitation of a minor. By consulting with a Florida Computer Solicitation Attorney, we may be able to show that you were wrongfully entrapped by police posing as a minor online.

An undercover official simply posing as a minor online is not considered a form of entrapment, and you could face a third degree felony for each solicitation you are accused of making. This correlates to a possibility of five years behind bars for every solicitation you are found guilty of. While undercover solicitation cases are numerous, every one of them is unique to the facts and events surrounding the conversations that transpired. By contacting the Florida Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers immediately we can investigate the facts of your case and ask the initial questions needed to best direct you towards your line of defense.

If you have been charged with the solicitation of a minor via the Internet anywhere in the state of Florida, contact the Florida Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers at Whittel & Melton online or reach us toll-free at 866-608-5529.