Opa-locka man convicted of online solicitation of two young girls

MIAMI – On Jan. 23, an Opa-locka man pleaded guilty in federal district court to two counts of online solicitation of a minor to commit a sexual act.

As part of his guilty plea, Malik Hosea Atkinson, 25, also known online as “@jpmon8,” “@Mall9488673”and “unknown_value#5861” admitted that in 2022 and 2023 he met two teenage girls online in a social networking application. Atkinson convinced the two young girls to meet him in person. To meet the first victim, he drove from Miami-Dade County to Palm Beach County to have sex with her multiple times in his white van. To meet the second victim, he drove to Broward County to have sex with her. Atkinson’s online account and phone revealed the sexual context of Atkinson’s communications with the two minor victims and confirmed that he had video recorded himself sexually exploiting them.  

Sentencing is scheduled for April 16 at 3:00 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg in West Palm Beach. Atkinson faces up to life in prison, lifetime supervised release, and payment of restitution to his victims.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of FBI, Miami Field Office, announced the guilty plea.

FBI Miami, West Palm Beach Resident Agency investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller is prosecuting it.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. 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 or https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/project-safe-childhood.

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-80205.

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