A man from Charlotte, North Carolina, has pleaded guilty in Fort Pierce federal court to charges related to the enticement of a minor and production of child sexual abuse material. Kaleb Harrison Childs, 26, admitted to contacting a minor from Okeechobee through a social media platform beginning in February 2025. The minor stated she was 13 years old but was actually 12 at the time. Court documents indicate that Childs offered gift cards and video game credits in exchange for sexually explicit images and videos.
Childs was arrested in May 2025 upon reentering the United States aboard a cruise ship. Law enforcement later executed a search warrant at his home, where they found hundreds of images involving child sexual abuse.
He pleaded guilty to one count of enticement of a minor and one count of producing material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. The enticement charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, while the production charge carries up to 30 years in prison. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge after reviewing relevant guidelines and statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Division, and Sheriff Noel E. Stephen of the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office announced the plea.
HSI Fort Pierce and the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office are investigating this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Hoover is prosecuting.
"This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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," according to information provided with the announcement.
Additional details about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
Copies of this press release are available on the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida website at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.
Related court documents can be accessed on the District Court for the Southern District of Florida website or through http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 25-cr-14034.
