Orlando Man Sentenced To Nearly 20 Years In Prison For Enticement Of A Minor

Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Berger today sentenced Ethan Lipper (21, Orlando) to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. The court also ordered Lipper to forfeit the cellular phone used to commit the offense. Lipper pleaded guilty on June 7, 2023.

According to court documents, on January 16, 2023, a detective with the Oviedo Police Department was posing in an undercover capacity (UC) as a 14-year-old male on a social media application. Lipper joined a group called “Orlando Teens” where he began communicating with the UC, who he believed was a 14-year-old boy. Lipper sent pictures of himself and later provided his cell phone number in an effort to entice and sexually assault the child. Lipper sent the UC six videos, at least two of which contained child sexual abuse imagery. One of the videos depicted an adult male sexually assaulting a child who was approximately 9 to 11 years old. Lipper told the UC, who he believed was a child, that he wanted to perform similar acts with him.

On February 1, 2023, Lipper travelled to an address in Oviedo, Florida to meet with, and sexually assault, the child. He was taken into custody when he arrived, and his cellular phone was seized and searched. During a forensic review of his cellular phone, over 100 images and videos of child sexual abuse imagery were located. The majority of the images depicted children approximately 5 to 10 years old. Three of the images depicted children under the age of 5, including an infant. Also located on the phone were conversations between Lipper and individuals between the ages of 12 to 17 years old. During these conversations on a social media application, Lipper asked for sexually explicit images of the minors, some of which were provided to him. To date, the FBI has located and interviewed five of these children. The search for the remaining potential victims is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Oviedo Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shannon Laurie and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Lyons.

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 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.