Main Menu

Jury Convicts Tampa Man of Trying to Entice Child into Sexual Activity

Courts | Crime | TB Reporter

He faces a mandatory term of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

TAMPA – A federal jury has found a Tampa man guilty of trying to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

Justin Scott Hunt, 31, of Tampa, was convicted of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor. Hunt faces a mandatory term of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 14.

A grand jury had indicted Hunt on Aug. 16, 2017.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Hunt engaged in six months of online conversation with someone he believed to be a small child and the child’s mother. In reality, he was actually talking to an undercover agent.

On numerous occasions, Hunt requested to meet the “child” and described, in graphic detail, the sex acts that he planned to engage in with the minor. He also sent two pictures of his erect penis to the person whom he believed to be the mother of the child, encouraging her to show the child the pictures, expressing hope that the child would then begin to develop “a lust or fantasy” about Hunt.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section , Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, go to projectsafechildhood.gov.

U.S. Attorney | Crime | Courts | Tampabay News

#USAttorney #Crime #Courts #TampabayNews