St. Augustine Man Charged With Using The Internet To Entice And Meet A Child To Engage In Sexual Activity

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that Brian Ray Dunlap (age 66, St. Augustine) has been arrested and charged by a federal criminal complaint with using the internet to attempt to entice a child to engage in sexual activity. Dunlap faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. He is currently detained pending a detention hearing. 

According to the

, on October 6, 2018, a detective with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, who was posing online as a custodial family member of two children, ages 9 and 12, received an email message from Dunlap, who identified himself as “Brian.” Between October 6 and October 9, 2018, Dunlap and the undercover detective exchanged emails and text messages about Dunlap meeting the “children” for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with them. Dunlap provided the undercover detective with specific details about the sexual acts that he wished to perform on the two “children.” 

According to the complaint, on October 9, 2018, Dunlap traveled to a shopping area in St. Johns County to meet the undercover detective, and sent a photo of himself so that he could be recognized. After his arrival there, he was arrested. 

This case was investigated by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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.