Orlando, Florida - United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Christopher James Everding (28, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to entice a child to engage in illicit sexual conduct. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 16, 2015.
According to the plea agreement, from May 15, 2015, to May 22, 2015, Everding engaged in communications via the Internet with an undercover officer about his intent to engage the undercover officer’s 13-year-old fictitious daughter in sex and bestiality. On May 22, 2015, Everding traveled from Tampa to Brevard County for the purpose of engaging the “child" in illicit sexual conduct and was arrested.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney 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 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
