Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News
Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger has sentenced Joshua Douglas Dodson (41, St. Cloud) to 24 years and 5 months in federal prison for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity and possessing images and videos of children being sexually exploited. Dodson entered a guilty plea on November 13, 2023.
According to court documents, in November 2021, investigators received a cyber tip that Dodson had received child sexual abuse material on a social media platform. When the investigation became public knowledge, a child victim (“CV1”) came forward and told investigators that Dodson asked her to sit on his lap and attempted to touch her by putting his hands down her pants. CV1 stated that these events occurred in March 2020.
CV1 and her mother gave investigators authority to take over CV1’s phone and pose as CV1. During conversations with the investigators posing as CV1, Dodson sent multiple pictures of himself nude and a video of him masturbating. The conversation continued with Dodson asking for “naughty pics” of CV1’s private parts in exchange. The conversation then turned to a meeting to have sex on a day that CV1 was supposed to be in school. Dodson joked that CV1 had him “…talking and feeling like I’m 15 again.” In their text exchanges, Dodson warned CV1 to be cautious and delete their communications.
A meeting was agreed to between Dodson and the law enforcement officer posing as CV1 for November 7, 2022. When Dodson arrived as scheduled, an arrest team swarmed his truck and seized his cellphone. The phone contained child sex abuse images that appeared to have been taken using a hidden camera.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Osceola County Sherriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Noah P. Dorman
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice 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 (CEOS), 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.