A Jacksonville man has been indicted for allegedly attempting to entice a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity using his cellphone and the internet. Jerry Alexander Cobb, 37, faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison if convicted, along with a possible lifetime term of supervised release. On August 12, 2025, Cobb was ordered detained pending trial.
Court documents state that between July 18 and August 1, 2025, an FBI agent working undercover in Jacksonville used an online social media application to identify adults seeking contact with minors for sexual purposes. During this period, the agent communicated privately with a user named “Jerry.” After being told by the agent that “she” was 13 years old, “Jerry” responded, “[w]e can be friends” and asked several times about the location of the “child’s” residence, whether she could “sneak out at night,” and if she was a “virgin.”
On July 30, 2025, “Jerry” suggested meeting in person and texted, “[y]ou want to just get a hotel room?” He then proposed engaging in sexual activity at the hotel room and promised to bring a condom. On August 1, Cobb allegedly asked for an explicit photo from the purported child and arranged plans to meet later that day.
Cobb traveled on August 1 to what he believed was the meeting place but was arrested by FBI agents upon arrival.
"An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation with support from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown is prosecuting the case.
"It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 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, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify, rescue, and seek justice for child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood," officials said. More details about this initiative are available at www.justice.gov/psc.
