Dwight Castaldi, Child Pornography Charges, Florida 2023

Miami, Florida – In a harsh blow to online predators, Dwight Castaldi, a 45-year-old Palm Beach Gardens man, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison and supervised release for life for enticing minor girls into sending him sexually explicit pictures of themselves by posing as a teenager during online chats.

According to the investigation, Castaldi communicated with at least six minor-aged girls, as young as 13, on social networking websites between 2008 and 2018. He told the girls he was a teenager and sent them pictures of an unknown young man, falsely claiming they were pictures of him.

During chats, Castaldi convinced the minors to take sexually explicit pictures of themselves and send the images to him, claiming they were in exclusive relationships with him. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Castaldi’s Palm Beach County home in 2018 and found several electronic devices containing hundreds of videos and photographs of child exploitation material.

Castaldi previously pled guilty to production, distribution, and possession of child pornography, and online enticement of minors. U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith, who sits in Ft. Lauderdale, imposed the sentence.

U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro, FBI Miami, announced the sentence. FBI Miami investigated the case, together with the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department and Huntington Beach California Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller prosecuted the case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Victims of online child sexual exploitation can report incidents to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Cyber Tip Line at 1-800-843-5678 or use the electronic Cyber Tip Line.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 20-cr-80087.

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