Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, Palm Beach County, George Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office and Rick Bradsaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), made the announcement.

Aaron J. Fink, 44, of Deerfield Beach, has been charged by a criminal complaint with using the Internet to attempt to entice a mother and her two minor children to engage in illegal sexual activity. Fink is presently in state custody at the Palm Beach County jail and is expected to appear for Initial Appearance in two weeks before a United States Magistrate Judge upon which the government will seek his detention. If convicted, the defendant faces a 10 year mandatory term of imprisonment and a maximum term of life.

Between June 29, 2015, and August 13, 2015, Fink sent numerous sexually explicit messages via a public website, e-mail and text messages to an undercover officer who posed as the single mother of two minor daughters, 8 and 12 years old. As alleged in the criminal complaint, Fink discussed his desire to have sexual intercourse with the mother and both children as part of an incestuous relationship. Fink’s desires culminated on August 13, 2015, when he drove to West Palm Beach in an attempt to meet the mother and her children to engage in illegal sexual activity. PBSO intercepted Fink and he was arrested. Fink later confessed to sending sexually explicit messages to the mother, whom he did not know was an undercover officer. Fink also admitted that he traveled to West Palm Beach to meet the mother and minor children to “possibly” engage in sexual activity with them.

This case was adopted from state prosecution in cooperation with the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office and the South Florida ICAC. This case was also brought into federal court as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and is led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’ 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.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam McMichael and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller from the Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office.

A complaint is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. 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 on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.