A federal grand jury has indicted James Gregory Ford, 34, of Port Charlotte, on charges of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and transferring obscene material to a minor. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe.
Court records indicate that in October 2025, Ford allegedly communicated with a 10-year-old child through a social media application. He is accused of engaging in sexually explicit conversations with the child, requesting sexual images and videos, and sending a nude image of himself.
According to the indictment, “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.”
If convicted on all counts, Ford faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and could receive up to life imprisonment.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case along with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava will prosecute the case.
“This 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,” according to the release. “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 and rescue child victims.” More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
