Matthew Christopher Yates, a 30-year-old former eighth-grade teacher at Veritas Classical School in St. Augustine, has pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a 14-year-old child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video of her own sexual abuse. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. Yates faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison, along with a potential life term of supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for December 18, 2025.
Court documents show that on February 11, 2022, an undercover FBI agent based in Jacksonville posed online as a 14-year-old child and responded to an online notice posted by the user “English teacher,” later identified as Yates. During their conversation on a social media application, the “child” stated she was 14 and in eighth grade. Yates replied that he was a teacher and asked, “[e]ver fantasize about a teacher?” He also exchanged photos with the “child” and commented, “I bet you look hot in a bikini.”
From February 22 through March 11, 2022, further text exchanges occurred between Yates and the undercover agent. Yates sent several photos, including an explicit photo of himself. On March 8, he proposed meeting in person and described specific sexual acts he intended to perform.
On March 10, they confirmed plans to meet. Yates asked if the “child” wanted to record their planned sexual activity so she could “remember it even better.” He told her he could use his cellphone to make the recording and would delete it afterward.
Yates arrived at a prearranged location in Jacksonville on March 11 intending to meet the “child” for sex but was arrested by FBI agents. A search revealed he had brought condoms and his cellphone. He later admitted he planned to meet a girl he believed was 14 years old for sex.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Jacksonville office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
“This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched 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, please visit www.justice.gov/psc,” according to information provided by authorities.
