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Registered Sex Offender Indicted for Attempted Online Enticement
Jacksonville, Florida – In a disturbing case, a grand jury has indicted 39-year-old Christopher Lee Smith, a registered sex offender from St. Augustine, for attempting to entice a 10-year-old child to engage in sex and distributing a child sexual abuse video online.
According to the indictment, on June 28 and August 30, 2021, Smith used a social media application to engage in online conversations with an undercover federal agent posing as the parent of a 10-year-old child. On June 28, 2021, Smith advised the undercover agent that he wanted to have sex with the ‘child’ and discussed the sexual acts he wished to perform on the ‘child.’
On August 30, 2021, Smith and the undercover agent engaged in another online conversation. Smith advised the undercover agent that he had engaged in sexual activity with another minor child and sent a video depicting an adult male sexually abusing the minor. FBI agents were subsequently able to identify the child, but the details of the child’s identity have not been released.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Jacksonville and Tampa. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
Smith faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years and up to life in federal prison, a $500,000 fine, and a potential life term of supervised release. He is currently in federal custody awaiting his arraignment on September 23, 2021.
Smith is a registered sex offender, having been convicted of a prior child sex offense in January 2012. This case is another example of the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, is working to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
If you have any information regarding this investigation, please contact the FBI Jacksonville office at 904-248-7000.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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