Zachary S. Spiegel, Attempted Online Enticement of a Minor, Florida 2023

State: Florida
Category: Sex Crimes
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/south-florida-man-sentenced-10-years-attempted-online-enticement-minor" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A South Florida man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of attempting to entice a minor online.

Zachary S. Spiegel, 38, of Jensen Beach, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Paul C. Huck on June 22. Spiegel was found guilty of attempted online enticement of a minor.

The crime occurred in January of this year when Spiegel communicated online and by text message with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl named Shayla. In reality, Shayla was a fictional persona created by a 16-year-old boy who was trying to identify child predators in the area.

Spiegel attempted to persuade Shayla to meet him in the parking lot of a Fort Pierce shopping plaza for sex in his car. He sent Shayla graphic descriptions of the sex acts he would perform on her, as well as photos of his erect penis.

They agreed on a time and place to meet, but Spiegel did not make it. He later explained to Shayla that while on his way to their rendezvous, law enforcement officers pulled him over for speeding and he decided to return home. After this incident, the 16-year-old boy contacted law enforcement.

Spiegel kept communicating with a person he believed was the 14-year-old Shayla. As he had done before, Spiegel made sexually explicit comments, sent several more photos of his face and penis, and talked about meeting Shayla in person.

A law enforcement investigation led officers to Spiegel. They executed a search warrant at his Jensen Beach home on January 20, where they found him in possession of the cellular phone he had used to communicate with Shayla.

Spiegel was sentenced to 120 months in prison for his crime. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Related Federal Cases