Miami, Florida – In a disturbing case of online exploitation, Dwight Castaldi, a 45-year-old man from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, has pleaded guilty to producing, distributing, and possessing child pornography. The charges stem from Castaldi’s interactions with minor girls as young as 13 on a social networking website.
According to court records, beginning in 2008, Castaldi communicated with girls as young as 13 on a social networking website. 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, after promising each girl an exclusive relationship, Castaldi convinced the minors to take sexually explicit pictures of themselves and send the images to him.
Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Castaldi’s Palm Beach County home in 2018. They found several electronic devices containing hundreds of videos and photographs of child exploitation material and evidence of Castaldi communicating with others about it.
Castaldi’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 20, 2021, before U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith. Castaldi faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years and a maximum of life.
Castaldi recently completed a three-year sentence in California on separate charges for similar conduct of enticing a 13-year-old girl using the internet.
The case was investigated by the FBI Miami, together with the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department and Huntington Beach California Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the federal government 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.
To report online child sexual exploitation, use the electronic Cyber Tip Line or call 1-800-843-5678. The Cyber Tip Line is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in partnership with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
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.
Related Federal Cases
- Dwight Castaldi, Child Pornography Charges, Florida 2023 · California
- Michael Gallon, Sex Trafficking & Child Pornography, Florida 2013 · Alaska
- John Doe, Child Pornography Distribution, Florida 2023 · Florida
- John Doe, Possession of Child Pornography, Florida 2022 · Ohio
- James Robert Smith, Child Pornography and Sex Crimes, Florida 2022 · New York
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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