Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)
Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Matthew Reed Dione (37, Sanford) to 20 years in federal prison for enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Dione will also forfeit two hard drives and a cellphone, which were used to commit the offense. Dione entered a guilty plea on July 2, 2024.
According to court documents, Dione met a child victim on a teen dating website when Dione was 32 years old. He engaged in inappropriate chats with the child victim prior to picking up the victim from the victim’s home late at night and taking the victim to his home. At his home, Dione sexually abused the child and recorded the activity.
In January 2023, the FBI executed a search warrant at Dione’s home and seized multiple electronic devices. During a forensic extraction of the seized devices, the FBI located numerous videos and images of child sexual abuse. In many of those videos and images, the minors had Dione’s name written on their bodies. The FBI was able to identify three additional child victims from the child sexual abuse material found on Dione’s devices. The evidence on the devices showed that Dione had been targeting teenage girls for more than a decade.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Courtney D. Richardson-Jones.
This is another case 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 the 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.