Jacksonville Man Indicted For Attempting To Entice A 13-Year-Old Child To Engage In Sexual Activity
In a shocking case, Jerry Alexander Cobb, a 37-year-old Jacksonville man, has been charged with using his cellphone and the internet to attempt to entice a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. If convicted, Cobb faces a minimum penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison and a potential lifetime term of supervised release.
According to court documents, between July 18 and August 1, 2025, an FBI agent (“UC”) in Jacksonville was conducting an undercover operation on an online social media application to identify adults who were seeking to make online contact with and engage in sexual activity with children. During this same timeframe, UC and app user “Jerry” exchanged several private online messages on the app and text messages.
After UC advised “Jerry” that “she” was 13 years old, “Jerry” texted, “[w]e can be friends” and repeatedly asked for the location of the “child’s” residence, whether the “child” could “sneak out at night,” and if “she” was a “virgin.” On July 30, 2025, “Jerry” told the “child” that they should meet and texted, “[y]ou want to just get a hotel room?” “Jerry,” who was subsequently identified as Cobb, suggested that they engage in sexual activity in the hotel room and promised that he would bring and use a condom.
On August 1, 2025, Cobb asked the “child” to send him an explicit photo of herself, and the two made plans to meet for sexual activity in Jacksonville later that day. On the evening of August 1, 2025, Cobb traveled to the location where he intended to meet the purported 13-year-old “child” for sex. He was immediately arrested by FBI agents.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Cobb is currently being held in federal custody pending trial.
Related Federal Cases
- Eric James Templeton, Attempting to Entice a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity, Florida 2021 · Arkansas
- Chad Allen Pease, Attempting to Entice a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity, Florida 2024 · Wisconsin
- John David Stahlman, Attempting to Persuade a Minor, Florida 2016 · North Carolina
- Cody Mann, Enticing a Child to Engage in Illegal Sexual Activity, New York 2014 · Texas
- Malik Hosea Atkinson, Online Solicitation of a Minor to Commit a Sexual Act, Florida 2023 · Wisconsin
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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