Jacksonville Man Found Guilty of Attempted Online Enticement of a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity

JACKSONVILLE, FL—U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton today announced that Robert William Godwin has been found guilty by a federal jury of using the Internet to attempt to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. Godwin (age 31, of Jacksonville) faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. Godwin's sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

According to court testimony and evidence introduced during the trial, from July 28, 2008, through August 11, 2008, Godwin engaged in several online conversations in an Internet "chat room" with a person whom he believed to be a 14-year-old child. This "child" was actually an investigator with the Florida Attorney General's Child Predator CyberCrime Unit. During the course of the conversations, Godwin attempted to entice and persuade the "child" to engage in sex with him, and on one occasion directed the "child" to perform a graphic sexual act. On August 11, 2008, Godwin planned to meet the "child" at a restaurant in Orange Park and then travel to the "child's" home to engage in sex. When Godwin arrived at the restaurant, he was arrested by Clay County Sheriff's Office detectives. At the time of his offense, Godwin was enlisted in the Navy and worked at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.

This case was investigated by the Child Predator CyberCrime Unit of the State of Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Clay County Sheriff's Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's Child Predator CyberCrime Unit is a member of the FBI Cyber Taskforce in Jacksonville and the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a federally funded program working nationwide to educate and support law enforcement to stop these crimes. More information on the Florida Attorney General's CyberCrime initiative is available at http://www.myfloridalegal.com.