Mohammad Ali Hemmat, Enticing Minor to Engage in Sex, Florida 2023

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Mohammad Ali Hemmat Entices Minor to Engage in Sex, Tampa FL, 2023

A federal jury in Tampa, Florida, has found Mohammad Ali Hemmat guilty of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity, production of child sexual abuse material, and traveling to Florida for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a minor. The 29-year-old Milwaukee man faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 35 years, up to life, in federal prison.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, between April 2022 and March 2023, Hemmat used his cellphone and computer to sexually groom a 12-year-old girl in the Middle District of Florida. He groomed this minor through daily video chats, text message conversations, and by sending her cash, gifts, and fast food. Hemmat shared obscene material with this child through social media applications and used a social media platform to remotely log-in to the minor victim’s laptop—which he had purchased for her—to search online for sexually explicit topics, images, and videos.

The minor victim subsequently sent explicit images of herself to Hemmat over the internet. In February 2023, Hemmat drove from Wisconsin to Florida for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with the minor. In March 2023, Hemmat drove to Florida for a second time for the same purpose, but law enforcement was alerted to his presence by the minor victim. Although Hemmat attempted to return to Wisconsin without detection, law enforcement in Indiana apprehended him.

Evidence presented at trial also showed that Hemmat had engaged similar tactics in grooming a 13-year-old child in the United Kingdom to send sexually explicit images of herself to Hemmat. Hemmat has a prior conviction for an offense involving a minor, requiring him to register as a sex offender in Wisconsin when he committed the above offenses.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the Jasper County (Indiana) Sheriff’s Office, the Sussex County (United Kingdom) Police Department, and the United States Marshals Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ilyssa M. Spergel and Risha Asokan.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the federal government to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.

Hemmat’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 8, 2024. The maximum punishment for these crimes is up to life in prison.