Florida Criminal Attorney Blog
A retired school principal and 911 dispatcher was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Thursday after admitting he tried to meet two teen boys for sex in Palm Beach County.
The 64-year-old, who recently retired to Delray Beach from southern Indiana, was arrested in January after showing up at a Boynton Beach Mall restaurant for a sexual encounter with what he thought was a 15-year-old boy.
The man apparently did not realize the person he had contacted on the online Grindr service was an undercover city police officer posing as a minor.
After his arrest, agents from Homeland Security Investigations found evidence on his cellphone that allegedly showed he had also tried to meet a real teen, who he thought was 16, for sex in December.
The man and the boy apparently exchanged sexually explicit photographs on their cellphones and arranged to meet. Police also claim that the man wrote a message to the minor declaring there was “too much danger” and he couldn’t risk “getting caught.”
The man showed up at the boy’s Lantana home less than two hours after they started chatting on another online service, according to reports.
When the man showed up at the house, the 15-year-old teen wrote him a message telling him to leave.
The teen apparently told investigators he “chickened out” of having sex with the man.
The man moved to South Florida in August and pleaded guilty to two counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexual conduct in March.
A U.S. District Judge ruled that the man must serve 10 years of supervised release after he gets out of prison and register as a sex offender.
Sex crimes are quite serious and one of the most severe crimes a person can be charged with on the spectrum of socially negative stigmas. In most cases, when a person is charged with a sex crime they are immediately shunned from society regardless of their innocence. With so much at stake, it is very important for anyone who is accused of a sex crime to enlist the help of a criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible. At Whittel & Melton, all of our attorneys are very well experienced in defending against sex crimes and know the importance of achieving a successful outcome. If you or a loved one has been charged with a sex crime in Florida, please call us today at 561-367-8777 or contact us online. We can set up a free consultation with you and answer all of your questions at no cost to you.