Former Navy Officer Sentenced For Attempting To Entice A Minor

Orlando, Florida – United States District Judge Roy B. Dalton sentenced William Daniel Thompson (67) today to 16 years in federal prison for attempting to persuade, induce, and entice two minors to engage in illicit sexual conduct.  He pleaded guilty on December 24, 2014.

According to court documents, on September 10, 2014, an FBI agent responded to an advertisement in the “all personals” section of Craigslist, which made reference to a single white male seeking a “family dynamic.”  Thompson communicated online with the undercover agent, who was posing as the father of a 10-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy.  During the online conversations, Thompson told the agent that he wanted to engage in sexual conduct with the minors.

On September 11, 2014, Thompson traveled from his home in Manatee County to Altamonte Springs, where he intended to meet the father for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct.  He was subsequently arrested.  During an interview with law enforcement, Thompson admitted that he had traveled for the purpose of meeting the father of two children with whom he had been e-mailing since September 10, 2014, and to explore the possibility of having sex with a 10-year-old girl.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ilianys Rivera Miranda.

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 (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.justice.gov/psc.