Source: Office of United States Attorneys
MIAMI – This week, a federal jury sitting in Fort Pierce, Florida found Michael Gordon Douglas, 48, of Escondido, California guilty of seven counts of Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (“CSAM”) and one count of Attempted Enticement of a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity.
Federal prosecutors proved the following during the five-day trial: In October 2023, South Florida law enforcement learned that Douglas was active in an online chat room focused on incest and other sexual taboo. Douglas communicated with someone he believed was the mother of an eight-year-old girl. During months of chats, Douglas bragged about his sexual experiences with children and posted dozens of sexually explicit photos and videos. He repeatedly instructed the mother on how to gradually sexualize her child so that she would be ready, willing, and able to have sex with him. At one point, Douglas tried to set up a Halloween sex party where he offered to take the child’s virginity “in front of a meth-fueled orgy.”
On the day of a planned meet-up with the child, Douglas spotted law enforcement and erratically drove away. Agents stopped the vehicle, and a female passenger jumped out screaming, “He’s got a grenade, he’s going to kill us!” Douglas then pulled the pin out of what looked like a real grenade and held a standoff with a SWAT team. Douglas eventually put down the replica grenade and was arrested.
Inside Douglas’s car, law enforcement discovered sex toys, personal lubricant, extra-small lingerie, a small speculum, and a unicorn stuffed animal. During planning chats, Douglas said he would bring those very items to his encounter with the child. The trial evidence showed that Douglas purchased most of these items online the day before the meeting with rush delivery.
Sentencing is currently set for August 25 at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon. Douglas faces a minimum of 15 years and up to life in federal prison.
U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and acting Special Agent in Charge Jose Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office made the announcement.
HSI Miami and HSI San Diego Field Divisions investigated the case. U.S. Attorneys Justin Chapman and Adam McMichael are prosecuting it.
The Justice Department is committed to combating child sexual exploitation. These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-cr-80219.
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