Ohio man sentenced for exploiting South Florida minor

A federal district judge in Miami has sentenced Adam Gino James Cotte, a 36-year-old Ohio man, to 30 years in prison for soliciting sexually explicit images from a minor in South Florida. Cotte met the 14-year-old victim through an internet messaging website and communicated with her via social media, text messages, and video chats. He instructed the girl to send him nude images and directed her friend to record an explicit video.

At the time of these offenses, Cotte was already a registered sex offender due to a previous conviction in Ohio for child exploitation in 2020. On October 29, 2024, he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted production of visual depictions involving the sexual exploitation of minors.

In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom ordered Cotte to serve a lifetime of supervised release after his incarceration and mandated that he register as a sex offender. A restitution hearing is scheduled for May 23, 2025.

The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and Acting Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of FBI Miami. The case was investigated by FBI Miami and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Audrey Pence Tomanelli and Nardia Haye.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The project coordinates federal, state, and local resources to locate and prosecute offenders while identifying victims.

For more information on Project Safe Childhood or related matters regarding child sexual exploitation or abuse, individuals are encouraged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Further details about this case can be found on the websites of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the District Court for the Southern District of Florida under case number 24-cr-20150.