Kissimmee Man Sentenced To 10 Years In Federal Prison For Attempting To Entice And Meet A 13-Year-Old Child To Engage In Sexual Activity

Orlando, Florida – United States District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Gabriel Almenas Carrasquillo (35, Kissimmee) to 10 years in federal prison for attempting to entice a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. Almenas was also ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release, register as a sex offender, and forfeit his cellphone. A federal jury had found Almenas guilty on July 12, 2023, and he has been in custody since the return of the guilty verdict.  

According to evidence and testimony admitted during the three-day trial, on August 11, 2022, an undercover agent (UC) with the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation in Orlando was posing as a 13-year-old child on a social media application (app) in an effort to identify individuals who were seeking to sexually exploit children. Almenas initiated an online conversation with the UC, typing “You r really beautiful.” When Almenas asked if “he” was 18, the UC advised that “he” was “a little younger,” and stated, “I’ll be fourteen in a few months …” Almenas responded, “Oh wow you look really quite develop,” and “… I’m down to keep getting to know you more …” The two discussed meeting and Almenas confirmed that the “child” would be alone without adult supervision for that entire evening. At Almenas’s suggestion, their online conversation moved to another social media app. Almenas then described the sexual acts that he wanted to perform on the “child,” and he sent the UC a video depicting Almenas’s genitalia. Almenas drove to an agreed-upon location in Orlando where he believed that the “child” was staying and was arrested. In an interview, Almenas stated, among other things, that he knew that the “child” was underage when he came to meet “him,” and acknowledged that he was arrested because he “tried to have sex with somebody that was not legal age.” Almenas also admitted that he brought the lubricant found in his backpack to use during sexual acts with the “child.”

This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Orlando. It was 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 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.