Sex sting cases are usually won or lost on the chat transcript, and the State controls how that transcript was made. I learned how these investigations are built as a Major Crimes Unit attorney handling sex crime cases, and as founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm, I have defended people arrested in Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office sting operations. Our attorneys read every message, every timestamp, and every profile the detectives used before we advise a client on anything.

How do Tampa sex stings work?

Tampa Bay sex stings are undercover operations in which detectives pose online as a minor, or as a parent or relative offering a minor, and arrest the people who respond. In a four-day operation in April 2025, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrested 15 people, according to a May 2025 Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office press release. Detectives posed both as relatives of a juvenile offering to sell a minor and as juveniles on social media. Twelve people were arrested when they arrived at the meeting location, and 3 who agreed but did not show up were arrested later on warrants.

Operations can run much larger. In October 2025, the Sheriff announced 171 arrests from a months-long operation called Operation Unmasking Predators, with charges including human trafficking and traveling to meet a minor, according to news reports of the Sheriff’s announcement. In our experience, Hillsborough stings follow two patterns, and the pattern shapes the charges:

What charges come from a Tampa sex sting?

One conversation can produce several felonies. These are the charges our attorneys see most often in Hillsborough County sting cases:

Under section 847.0135, Florida Statutes, solicitation and traveling both reach “another person believed by the person to be a child,” so the absence of a real child is no defense. Each separate use of a phone or computer may be charged as a separate offense. Under section 787.06, Florida Statutes, the human trafficking count reaches commercial sexual activity involving “an adult believed by the person to be a child younger than 18,” and the statute bars any defense based on belief about age. Our article on solicitation of a child using a computer explains the solicitation statute in detail, and our post on human trafficking defense in Tampa covers the trafficking statute.

What happens in the first 48 hours after a sting arrest?

The first 48 hours set the tone for the whole case. After arrest, the person is booked into the Orient Road Jail and goes before a judge at first appearance, usually within 24 hours, where bond and release conditions are set. In our experience, judges in these cases commonly order no contact with minors and restrictions on internet use as conditions of release. The Sheriff’s Office often announces operations publicly with booking photos, so clients should prepare for that.

1. Do not explain the chats. Detectives often interview people right after arrest, and statements about intent fill the gaps in the State’s case.
2. Do not unlock or hand over your phone. Ask for a lawyer and let your attorney deal with any warrant.
3. Do not delete accounts or messages. Deleting evidence can lead to a separate tampering charge.
4. Save your own records. Write down the apps used, the profile you answered, and the timeline while it is fresh.
5. Call a defense attorney before first appearance if you can. Counsel can argue bond and conditions the first time a judge sees the case.

Our Hillsborough County criminal defense attorney page explains the local court process after an arrest.

Is entrapment a defense to a Tampa sex sting?

Yes, and it is the central defense in many sting cases. Florida’s subjective entrapment statute, section 777.201, Florida Statutes, applies when law enforcement induces a person to commit a crime the person was not ready and willing to commit. The statute puts the burden on the defendant to prove entrapment by a preponderance of the evidence, and the question of predisposition is usually for the jury. Objective entrapment, a due process doctrine, bars prosecution when police conduct is so outrageous it offends basic fairness.

The Second District, which covers Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties, has made clear that these motions are hard to win before trial. In State v. Panebianco, 370 So. 3d 345 (Fla. 2d DCA 2023), Sarasota County detectives created a profile of a 19-year-old on an adult website, and within minutes “Sophia” said she was 14. The trial court dismissed every charge as entrapment. The Second District reversed, holding that the defendant’s lack of any prior record showed lack of predisposition but that the chats themselves let reasonable people disagree, so a jury had to decide. It also held the sting was not outrageous enough to be objective entrapment.

When a judge will not dismiss, the jury still must hear the defense. In Oyler v. State, 162 So. 3d 200 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015), a detective posed as an 18-year-old on a dating site that barred minors, then asked if the man “like[d] younger girls” and said she was 13. The Fifth District reversed his conviction because the trial court refused an entrapment jury instruction and excluded evidence that he had never been arrested. Our attorneys build entrapment defenses for both stages: a motion to dismiss where the facts are undisputed, and a trial record that puts predisposition squarely before the jury. Our article on entrapment in Florida covers the doctrine in more depth.

Who gets caught in online sex stings?

Research shows many people arrested in these stings started on adult platforms and had no sex offense history. A 2023 Washington State Institute for Public Policy report, Whichard and Kelley’s Internet Stings and Operation Net Nanny, studied 299 arrests from Washington State Patrol stings between 2015 and 2022. In stings using a fictitious parent, 89.8% of contacts began on adults-only platforms, and 70.4% did in stings using a fictitious child. Only 2.9% of those arrested had a prior felony sex offense against a child.

Those findings do not decide any case, but they explain why predisposition evidence matters so much. A client with no record who answered an adult ad is in a very different position from someone who sought out a child, and our attorneys gather work history, character evidence, and, when helpful, a psychosexual evaluation to show the difference.

Can you be convicted of both solicitation and traveling?

Not for the same conduct. In State v. Shelley, 176 So. 3d 914 (Fla. 2015), the Florida Supreme Court held that convictions for both solicitation under section 847.0135(3) and traveling after solicitation under section 847.0135(4) violate double jeopardy when based on the same conduct, and the solicitation conviction must be vacated. When the State charges both counts from one conversation, our attorneys use Shelley to cut the exposure and the scoresheet.

Do you have to register as a sex offender after a sting conviction?

Yes, for most sting charges. Florida’s registration statute, section 943.0435, Florida Statutes, lists section 847.0135 (except subsection (6)) and section 787.06(3)(g) among the offenses that require registration. That is why the specific charge in any plea matters as much as the sentence. A plea to the charge as filed can carry lifetime registration, while an amended charge may not, and our attorneys evaluate every offer with registration in mind. Our overview of sex offender registration in Florida explains the requirements.

How is a child sex sting different from an escort sting?

An escort sting targets adults buying sex from adults and is usually charged as solicitation of prostitution, while a child sex sting adds a “minor” and turns the case into serious felonies with registration. Some operations blur the line, starting with an adult ad and introducing a minor partway through. Our article on Tampa escort stings covers adult prostitution stings, and our guide for people who messaged a minor online covers what to do before any arrest. If a private group rather than police confronted you, see our post on vigilante predator catchers in Florida.

Can a Tampa sex sting charge be reduced to a non-sex offense?

Yes. In an October 2026 Tampa sting case, our firm got a commercial human trafficking charge reduced to prostitution and unlawful use of a two-way communications device, and neither offense requires sex offender registration. Undercover officers had played the role of a trafficker offering teenage girls, and the State had our client on video agreeing to pay for sex. No real children were involved. Rocky Brancato filed a motion to dismiss arguing that the officers entrapped the client and presented the firm’s mitigation report, and the client received a withheld adjudication and probation. You can read the full case on our case results page. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Frequently asked questions about Tampa sex stings

Can sex sting charges be dropped in Tampa?

Yes. Charges can be dropped or reduced when the chats show the detective, not the client, drove the conversation, when intent evidence is weak, or when a client withdrew before any travel. The Brancato Law Firm presents those facts to prosecutors early, and when an investigation is still open, through pre-file advocacy.

What if the profile said the person was 18?

That fact supports the defense but does not end the case, because the charges turn on what you believed after the age was raised. Courts look at the whole conversation. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm map exactly when the age came up and how the conversation changed afterward.

Can I be charged if I never drove to the meeting?

Yes. Computer solicitation is complete without travel, and people who agree but do not show up are often arrested later on warrants. The Brancato Law Firm uses the decision not to travel as evidence against predisposition, as explained on our internet crimes defense page.

Why is there a human trafficking charge when I only talked to a police officer?

Section 787.06(3)(g) covers commercial sexual activity involving an adult believed to be a child, so offering money in a parent-persona sting can support the charge even though no child existed. The Brancato Law Firm challenges whether the evidence actually shows a commercial transaction and the knowledge the statute requires.

Will my name be in the news after a Hillsborough sting?

Often, yes, because the Sheriff’s Office publicizes many operations with names and booking photos. The Brancato Law Firm focuses on the outcome that lasts, the court record, and advises clients on what can later be sealed if the case is dismissed.

Should I take a plea in a sex sting case?

Not before your attorney has reviewed the full chat logs and the registration consequences of the specific charge. Some pleas carry lifetime registration while amended charges may not. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm compare every offer against the strength of the entrapment and intent defenses.

For how The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. defends these cases, see our Tampa sex crimes defense practice.

Call before you talk to detectives about the chats

Most sting cases are shaped in the first days, when a client decides whether to explain the messages, unlock a phone, or wait for a lawyer. Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato founded The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., and our attorneys defend sting cases throughout Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties. Call us at any hour at (813) 727-7159. Our firm has Spanish-speaking staff, and attorney Jean-Luc Adrien speaks Spanish, Haitian Creole, and French. Read our guide for Spanish and Haitian Creole speakers facing criminal charges.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Internet Crimes page.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.

If you just realized the person you were chatting with is underage, or you received a message from someone claiming to be a parent or a detective, the hours that follow can shape whether you are ever charged. As founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm, I handled sex crimes cases in the Major Crimes Unit of the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office before going on to serve as its Chief Operations Officer, overseeing a staff of over 100 attorneys. Our attorneys represent people at this stage, before an arrest, and we read the full conversation before giving advice about what happens next.

What Should You Do Right Now If You Messaged a Minor Online?

Stop, preserve, stay silent, and call a lawyer. These five steps protect you whether the other person is a real teenager, an adult who lied about age, a detective, or a vigilante group:

Can You Be Charged for Messaging a Minor Online in Florida?

Yes. Under section 847.0135(3), Florida Statutes, it is a crime to knowingly use “any other device capable of electronic data storage or transmission” to “seduce, solicit, lure, or entice, or attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice, a child or another person believed by the person to be a child” to engage in unlawful sexual conduct. No meeting is required. In Cashatt v. State, 873 So. 2d 430 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004), a man arranged online to meet a “14-year-old boy” in Jacksonville who was actually a vice detective. The First District upheld his conviction and held that “the Internet communications alone constituted a prima facie case of guilt” under the statute.

Cashatt also matters for anyone who believed the other person was an adult. The court rejected the argument that the statute had no mental state as to age, holding that the statute is presumed to require knowledge “including the age of the child sought to be ‘lured.'” In practice, that means what you knew or believed about the person’s age is central to whether the solicitation statute applies.

Which Florida Charges Can Come From Online Messages to a Minor?

The charge depends on what was said, what was sent, and whether anyone traveled to meet. Our Tampa internet crimes attorney page covers each of these in more depth.

Registration follows from the list of qualifying offenses in section 943.0435, Florida Statutes, which includes section 847.0133 and section 847.0135 (other than subsection 6). Section 847.0133 defines a minor as “any person under the age of 18 years.” Our guide to sex offender registration in Florida explains what registration requires.

What If You Did Not Know the Person Was a Minor?

It depends on the charge. For computer solicitation, your belief about age is part of what the State must prove, so an adult profile, an adult photo, or a stated adult age can be strong evidence. For in-person sexual contact, the rule is the opposite: under section 800.04(3), Florida Statutes, “the perpetrator’s ignorance of the victim’s age, the victim’s misrepresentation of his or her age, or the perpetrator’s bona fide belief of the victim’s age cannot be raised as a defense” to lewd or lascivious offenses involving someone under 16.

That difference is why the conversation should end the moment you learn the person may be underage. Our age of consent in Florida guide explains the age lines in Florida law.

Was It a Real Minor or a Police Sting?

Many of these cases involve no real child at all. In our practice, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office online stings follow two patterns: a deputy answers or posts an adult ad and then claims a teenage age once the conversation is under way, or a deputy poses as an adult offering access to a child. If you were talking with a detective, entrapment and charge-stacking defenses may apply; our post on solicitation of a child using a computer covers those defenses and the leading cases in detail.

Research on real cases points the other way from popular belief. In “Online ‘Predators’ and Their Victims,” published in American Psychologist in 2008 (vol. 63, pp. 111-128), researchers Janis Wolak, David Finkelhor, Kimberly Mitchell, and Michele Ybarra of the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center reported that in their national study of arrests, only 5 percent of offenders pretended to be teens when they met potential victims online, and 99 percent of victims of internet-initiated sex crimes were ages 13 to 17. The cases that reach court are usually about older teenagers and conversations that moved toward sex over time, which is why the full chat history matters.

How Do These Investigations Usually Start?

Most investigations start with a report from a parent, a platform, or a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. NCMEC reports that in 2023, Florida law enforcement received more than 47,500 actionable CyberTipline reports, and more than 1,800 of them concerned suspected online enticement, including sextortion.

Signs you may already be under investigation include:

• The other person suddenly reveals an underage age after a sexual turn in the conversation.
• The account blocks you, disappears, or is replaced by a message from someone claiming to be a parent.
• Someone asks you to meet, then sends a location you do not recognize.
• A detective calls, leaves a card, or asks you to “come in and talk.”
• Your service provider notifies you of a legal request for your account records.

Our article on signs you are being investigated for a crime in Florida covers other warning signs.

Should You Talk to Police If a Detective Contacts You?

No, not without a lawyer. A detective who calls or knocks is usually trying to confirm that you were the person typing the messages, and a voluntary interview often supplies the identity proof the State does not yet have. You can politely decline to answer questions, decline consent to search your phone, and ask for your lawyer. If officers have a search warrant, do not resist, but do not discuss the case.

Early representation gives the defense a chance to act before the State’s charging decision. Our page on representation before charges are filed explains how our attorneys communicate with investigators and prosecutors on a client’s behalf. If the first contact came from a self-described predator-catcher group rather than police, see our post on vigilante predator catchers in Florida.

How Can a Defense Attorney Help Before You Are Charged?

A defense attorney can review the conversation, preserve evidence that helps you, and keep you from making the statements that most often prove the State’s case. Our attorneys focus on four questions in every case:

1. What did the messages actually say? Sexual talk is not always solicitation; the State must prove an attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice.
2. What did you believe about age? The profile, the photos, and when age was first mentioned matter under Cashatt.
3. Can the State prove you sent the messages? Shared phones, shared accounts, and incomplete screenshots can leave doubt about identity.
4. Was there inducement? If a detective or decoy pushed the conversation toward sex after you pulled back, entrapment may apply.

Frequently Asked Questions About Messaging a Minor Online in Florida

Can I go to jail for texting a 16-year-old in Florida?

You can if the messages solicited sexual conduct, or if you sent obscene material, because Florida treats anyone under 18 as a minor for these offenses. The Brancato Law Firm reviews the actual messages before advising a client, since ordinary conversation is not a crime.

Should I delete the messages if I talked to a minor online?

No, deleting messages can lead to a tampering charge and can destroy proof that the other person claimed to be an adult. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm preserve the full conversation so it can be reviewed for defenses; see our internet crimes defense page.

What if the minor said they were 18?

A stated adult age is strong evidence on the belief element of computer solicitation, but it does not help if the case involves in-person sexual contact with someone under 16. The Brancato Law Firm builds the defense around the exact point where age entered the conversation.

Can a parent press charges for messages to their child?

A parent can report the messages, but the State Attorney’s Office, not the parent, decides whether to file charges. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm can contact the prosecutor before a decision is made; learn more about pre-file advocacy.

How long does an online solicitation investigation take in Florida?

It can take days in a sting case and months when police need records from an app or phone carrier, and an arrest can come without warning. The Brancato Law Firm advises clients during that window so they do not make statements that strengthen the case.

Can charges for messaging a minor be dropped in Florida?

Yes, charges can be declined or dismissed when the messages do not show solicitation, the State cannot prove who sent them, or entrapment applies. The Brancato Law Firm presents those problems to prosecutors early, and when a case is filed we file the motions that test them in court.

Call a Tampa Defense Attorney Before You Talk to Anyone

What you say in the first conversation with a detective can matter more than anything in the chat. Before you answer a call or open the door, talk with The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., founded by Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato, at (813) 727-7159. Our attorneys will review the conversation with you and tell you what to expect. You can call us at any hour, and our office is two blocks from the courthouse. Our firm has Spanish-speaking staff, and attorney Jean-Luc Adrien speaks Spanish, Haitian Creole, and French. Read our guide for Spanish-speaking and Haitian Creole-speaking clients.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Tampa Internet Crimes Attorney page, or our Tampa sex crimes lawyer page.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.

If you were arrested after an online conversation that turned out to be with a detective, the chat log is now the State’s whole case, and how that conversation started matters as much as how it ended. I’m Rocky Brancato, founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm, and before private practice I handled sex crimes and child abuse cases in the Major Crimes Unit of the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office, where I later served as Chief Operations Officer overseeing a staff of over 100 attorneys. Our attorneys are currently litigating entrapment motions in Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office sting cases, and we read every message in the chat before deciding how to fight the charge.

What Is Solicitation of a Child Using a Computer in Florida?

It is knowingly using an electronic device to try to get a child, or someone you believe is a child, into unlawful sexual conduct. Section 847.0135(3), Florida Statutes, covers “a computer online service, Internet service, local bulletin board service, or any other device capable of electronic data storage or transmission,” which includes phones, texting, and dating or social media apps. The statute creates two versions of the offense:

The statute states that “the fact that an undercover operative or law enforcement officer was involved in the detection and investigation of an offense under this section shall not constitute a defense.” That sentence does not eliminate entrapment. It means the use of a decoy is not a defense by itself, and the defense must show how the decoy acted. Our Tampa internet crimes attorney page explains how these investigations are run.

What Are the Penalties for Solicitation of a Child Using a Computer?

The base offense is a third-degree felony, and the penalties grow with the facts and the number of charges. The statute also says that “each separate use” of a device in which an offense is committed “may be charged as a separate offense,” so a multi-day chat can become several counts.

A conviction under section 847.0135, other than subsection (6), makes a person a “sexual offender” who must register under section 943.0435. The two-way communications device offense under section 934.215 is not on that registration list. In negotiated cases, whether a plea is entered to the solicitation charge as filed or to an amended charge can decide whether a client registers for life, so our attorneys check the registration consequence of every offer. Our guide to sex offender registration in Florida covers what registration requires.

How Do Online Sex Stings Work in Tampa Bay?

Most solicitation cases in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties come from proactive stings, and the volume is large. Internet Crimes Against Children task forces nationwide conducted nearly 347,000 investigations and arrested more than 17,000 offenders in 2025, according to the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which funds 61 task forces.

In our practice, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office stings follow two patterns. In decoy-profile stings, a deputy posts or answers an ad as an adult, then reveals a teenage age once the conversation is under way. In reverse stings, a deputy plays an adult, such as a mother or aunt, who offers access to a child, and those cases often add a human trafficking solicitation count. The leading Florida Supreme Court case on these charges began the same way: in State v. Shelley, 176 So. 3d 914 (Fla. 2015), Dean Shelley answered a Craigslist ad in Hillsborough County posted by an officer posing as a single mother, arranged over several days to meet her and her fictitious ten-year-old daughter, and was arrested when he arrived.

Research suggests sting arrestees differ from offenders who target real children. A study of arrests from July 2000 to June 2001, Police Posing as Juveniles Online to Catch Sex Offenders: Is It Working? by Kimberly Mitchell, Janis Wolak, and David Finkelhor of the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center, published in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment in 2005, found that undercover investigations accounted for 25 percent of arrests for internet sex crimes against minors. Only 4 percent of offenders caught posing as juveniles had a prior arrest for a sexual offense against a minor, compared with 11 percent of offenders who met real victims online. Those numbers are a reason to examine predisposition closely in every sting case.

Can You Use Entrapment as a Defense to Online Solicitation in Florida?

Yes. Florida’s entrapment statute, section 777.201, applies when law enforcement induces a crime using methods that “create a substantial risk that such crime will be committed by a person other than one who is ready to commit it.” Once the defendant presents evidence of a lack of predisposition, the State must rebut it beyond a reasonable doubt. When the chat itself is undisputed, a judge can decide entrapment as a matter of law on a sworn motion to dismiss.

The Second District Court of Appeal, which hears appeals from Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties, did exactly that in DeMare v. State, 298 So. 3d 1269 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020). A detective created an 18-year-old profile named “Amber” on the dating site Meetme.com, chatted with Jason DeMare as an adult for four days, and revealed she was 14 only when plans became concrete. DeMare “immediately tried to end the relationship,” told her sex would be illegal, and was then repeatedly pressed by the detective. The court found that “his reluctance to violate the law was overcome by law enforcement inducement,” reversed his traveling conviction, and ordered him discharged.

Entrapment does not win every sting case. In State v. Panebianco, 370 So. 3d 345 (Fla. 2d DCA 2023), a Sarasota County judge dismissed solicitation and traveling charges on entrapment grounds, but the Second District reversed. The decoy there said she was 14 early and repeatedly, and Ernest Panebianco “readily engaged in sexual discussions”; his worries about police reflected “a fear of being caught rather than an unwillingness,” so predisposition was a question for a jury. The difference between the two cases is in the messages, which is why our attorneys build a timeline of who raised age, sex, and meeting first.

Can You Be Convicted of Both Solicitation and Traveling to Meet a Minor?

Usually not, when both charges rest on the same conduct. In Shelley, the Florida Supreme Court held that the Legislature did not authorize separate punishments for solicitation and traveling after solicitation, and because the elements of solicitation “are entirely subsumed” by traveling, “double jeopardy principles prohibit separate convictions based upon the same conduct.” The court approved vacating Shelley’s solicitation conviction.

In Lee v. State, 258 So. 3d 1297 (Fla. 2018), the court added that, to decide whether solicitation, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, and traveling convictions rest on the same conduct, “the reviewing court should consider only the charging document—not the entire evidentiary record.” In Dettle v. State, 395 So. 3d 1054 (Fla. 2024), the court held that Lee does not apply retroactively to cases already final in 2018, which makes raising the issue at trial and on direct appeal essential. Our attorneys read the charging information count by count for this problem.

What Other Defenses Apply to Computer Solicitation Charges?

Beyond entrapment and double jeopardy, the defense depends on what the messages show and who sent them. Our attorneys look at these issues in every case:

1. No solicitation in the words used. The State must show an attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice, not just sexual talk or fantasy.
2. Belief about age. The State must prove the defendant believed he was talking with a child; an adult profile and an adult photo can undercut that belief.
3. Identity of the sender. Shared phones, shared accounts, and incomplete extractions can leave doubt about who typed the messages.
4. Missing messages. Detectives sometimes preserve screenshots instead of full exports; our forensic review looks for gaps in the conversation.
5. Objective entrapment. Police conduct so outrageous that it violates due process bars prosecution, though courts apply this narrowly.
6. Charge stacking. Separate counts for one continuous conversation, and solicitation plus traveling for the same conduct, can be challenged before trial.

For the related travel charge and vigilante cases, see our posts on what to do if you messaged a minor online, Tampa sex sting defense, and vigilante predator catchers.

What Should You Do If You Are Under Investigation for Online Solicitation?

Stop all contact, preserve your devices, and talk to a lawyer before talking to police. These steps protect the defenses described above:

1. Do not delete anything. Deleting messages or apps can look like consciousness of guilt and can destroy messages that support entrapment.
2. Do not contact the other account again. Every new message is new evidence and may be a separate count.
3. Do not consent to a phone search or interview. Politely decline and ask for a lawyer.
4. Write down the timeline of how the conversation began, which site or app was used, and what the profile said about age.
5. Call counsel immediately. Representation before charges are filed can shape how the State Attorney’s Office views the case.

Frequently Asked Questions About Solicitation of a Child Using a Computer

Is solicitation of a minor a felony if no real child was involved?

Yes, because the statute covers “a person believed by the person to be a child,” and the use of an undercover officer is not a defense by itself. The Brancato Law Firm focuses on how the detective presented the decoy’s age and who pushed the conversation toward sex.

Do I have to register as a sex offender for a computer solicitation conviction?

Yes, a conviction under section 847.0135(3) is a qualifying offense under section 943.0435. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm review whether any plea offer includes an amended charge that avoids registration; see our internet crimes defense page.

Can computer solicitation charges be dropped in Florida?

Yes, charges can be dismissed on a successful entrapment motion, reduced through negotiation, or dropped when the evidence does not prove solicitation. The Brancato Law Firm files sworn motions to dismiss when the chat shows a detective overcame a client’s reluctance, as happened in DeMare.

What if the profile said the person was 18?

An adult profile does not end the case if the decoy later claimed to be a minor, but it is strong evidence on belief and predisposition. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm build the defense around the exact point where age was introduced; our entrapment guide explains why that timing matters.

Can I be charged with traveling to meet a minor if I never got out of my car?

Yes, the traveling statute covers anyone who “travels any distance” or “attempts to do so” after a prohibited solicitation, so driving to the meeting place can be enough. The Brancato Law Firm examines whether the travel was for the purpose the statute requires and whether the solicitation count must be vacated under Shelley.

Can I be charged for each message I sent?

The statute allows each separate use of a device in which an offense is committed to be charged as a separate offense, though one conversation is usually not charged message by message. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm challenge counts that split one continuous conversation into multiple crimes.

For how The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. defends these cases, see our Tampa sex crimes defense practice.

Talk to a Tampa Defense Attorney About a Computer Solicitation Charge

The first decision in these cases, whether to file an entrapment motion or negotiate, depends on the full chat, so getting it reviewed early matters. Call The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., founded by Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato, at (813) 727-7159, and our attorneys will start with the complete conversation and the profile that began it. You can call us at any hour, and our office is two blocks from the courthouse. Our firm has Spanish-speaking staff, and attorney Jean-Luc Adrien speaks Spanish, Haitian Creole, and French. Read our guide for Spanish-speaking and Haitian Creole-speaking clients.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Tampa Internet Crimes Attorney page.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.

As founder of The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., a Tampa criminal defense firm, and a former Major Crimes Unit attorney who handled sex crime cases, I have watched vigilante sting videos become the opening exhibit in criminal cases, often before anyone has called a lawyer. I’m Rocky Brancato, and in more than 25 years in Hillsborough County courtrooms and 150+ jury trials to verdict, I have learned that a video built for views is not the same as evidence built for court. Our attorneys defend people targeted by these groups across Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties, and the earliest calls give us the most to work with.

What Is a Vigilante Predator Catcher?

A vigilante predator catcher is a private person or group that poses as a minor online, steers the conversation toward sex, arranges a meeting, and then confronts the target on camera, often for a livestream or a monetized video. These groups are not police. They have no training in preserving evidence, no duty to give Miranda warnings, and often a financial reason to make the encounter as dramatic as possible.

Our attorneys have seen at least two kinds of groups working in the Tampa Bay area, both from out of state. One has physically confronted targets on camera and used edited photos to make its decoys look younger in chats. The other avoids violence and works closely with law enforcement. Both report to police, both post footage online, and both are active on dating apps, including apps used by gay men.

Can You Be Charged After a Vigilante Sting in Florida?

Yes. Florida’s internet solicitation law, section 847.0135(3), Florida Statutes, makes it a crime to use a computer or device to “seduce, solicit, lure, or entice” “a child or another person believed by the person to be a child” to commit an illegal sexual act. The traveling-to-meet-a-minor provision in section 847.0135(4) uses the same “believed by the person to be a child” language. Because the statute turns on what the accused believed, it does not matter that the “child” was an adult volunteer.

Maximum terms come from section 775.082 and section 775.083, Florida Statutes. Our post on traveling to meet a minor in Tampa explains that charge in detail, and our guide to what to do after messaging a minor online covers the first steps.

Can You Use Entrapment as a Defense Against a Vigilante?

Usually not, unless police were involved. Florida’s entrapment statute, section 777.201, Florida Statutes, applies when “A law enforcement officer, a person engaged in cooperation with a law enforcement officer, or a person acting as an agent of a law enforcement officer” induces the crime. A private group acting entirely on its own is none of those. The defense must prove entrapment by a preponderance of the evidence.

Federal courts say the same. In United States v. Morris, 549 F.3d 548 (7th Cir. 2008), where the first person to pose online as the girl was her mother, a private citizen, the court wrote: “There is no defense of private entrapment.” That opinion quoted University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy scholarship warning that cheap online stings allow “private entrapment to become rampant” (Dru Stevenson, Entrapment by Numbers, 16 U. Fla. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 1 (2005)).

The answer changes when the group is not really acting alone. If officers asked the group to run the sting, fed it information, coordinated the meeting, or kept using its methods while knowing how it worked, the group may be “engaged in cooperation with” or “acting as an agent of” law enforcement under section 777.201. Our attorneys subpoena the communications between the group and the agency to find out which side of that line the case falls on.

There is also a due process route. In Munoz v. State, 629 So. 2d 90 (Fla. 1993), the Florida Supreme Court held that section 777.201’s subjective test governs “in the absence of egregious law enforcement conduct,” but that when the conduct is egregious, entrapment “is to be evaluated under the due process provision of article I, section 9, of the Florida Constitution.” Our post on understanding entrapment explains both tests.

What Defenses Work When Police Were Not Involved?

The evidence itself. A vigilante group decides what to save, what to post, and what to cut, and the State usually inherits whatever the group chose to keep. Our attorneys focus on these points:

1. Missing or edited chats. We demand the complete message history from the platform, not screenshots, and compare it line by line with what the group posted.
2. Who raised sex and age first. The full thread often shows the decoy steering the conversation, which matters to intent even when entrapment is unavailable.
3. Authentication. The State must prove the messages came from the accused and the decoy account was what it claimed to be.
4. Intent and belief. The statute requires proof the person believed he was dealing with a child; adult-only platforms, adult photos, and role-play cues can undercut that.
5. Video reliability. Edited livestreams, missing raw footage, and statements obtained through threats or force are open to challenge.
6. The group’s own conduct. Payments, monetization, and prior violence go to bias and credibility.

Our Tampa internet crimes attorney page explains how we handle digital evidence, and our Tampa sex sting guide covers police-run operations.

Can Vigilante Groups Commit Crimes Themselves?

Yes. Private citizens have no special legal protection when they confront someone. Holding a person in place against his will can support a false imprisonment charge under section 787.02, Florida Statutes, and physical contact can be battery under section 784.03. Under section 836.05, Florida Statutes, anyone who “maliciously threatens to expose another to disgrace” with intent “to extort money or any pecuniary advantage” commits a second-degree felony.

If a group demanded money to keep a video offline, or held you in place to film you, write down what happened and keep every message. That conduct can affect the credibility of the group’s evidence, and it may be a crime in its own right.

How Much Online Exploitation Reporting Comes From Florida?

A great deal. Florida generated 66,861 CyberTipline reports to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in 2023, third among the states behind California and Texas, out of 1,132,270 reports resolving to U.S. states, according to NCMEC’s 2023 CyberTipline Reports by State. NCMEC makes those reports available to Internet Crimes Against Children task forces and other law enforcement.

That volume is why police in Tampa Bay run their own online stings, and why a vigilante video that reaches a detective can turn into a real investigation weeks after the confrontation.

What Should You Do If a Predator Catcher Group Confronted You?

• Do not argue on camera or explain. Anything you say becomes part of the video and can reach a prosecutor.
• Do not contact the group or pay anyone. Payment does not make a video disappear, and contact creates new evidence.
• Preserve your own records. Keep your phone, the app, and the full message history; do not delete accounts.
• Write down what happened during the confrontation, including any force, threats, or demands for money.
• Call a defense lawyer before police call you. Many of these cases are still investigations when people reach us.

Our representation before charges are filed can include contacting the detective and presenting the missing context to the State Attorney’s Office before a charging decision. In Hillsborough County, those decisions are made by the State Attorney’s Office for the 13th Judicial Circuit; our Hillsborough County criminal defense attorney page explains the local process.

Frequently Asked Questions About Vigilante Predator Catchers in Florida

Can I be arrested based on a predator catcher video?

Yes. Police can investigate and file charges based on footage, chat logs, or a tip from a group, and the State can use that material if it can authenticate it. The Brancato Law Firm demands the complete records behind the video; see our Tampa sex crimes lawyer page.

What if the group never called the police?

You are not necessarily in the clear, because a viral video or a viewer’s tip can start an investigation later. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm often step in during that window, before any arrest.

Is it a crime if the “child” was really an adult?

It can be, because sections 847.0135(3) and (4) cover “another person believed by the person to be a child.” The Brancato Law Firm focuses on what the accused actually believed, using the full chat record; our traveling to meet a minor guide has more.

Can vigilantes record me without my consent in Florida?

Often yes, because Florida’s wiretap law protects an oral communication only when it is made with an expectation of privacy “under circumstances justifying such expectation” under section 934.02(2), Florida Statutes, so video in a public parking lot is rarely barred, although force, threats, and extortion can still be crimes. Our attorneys at The Brancato Law Firm review how every recording was made and what was cut from it.

Do these groups have to preserve the evidence?

No, private groups have no duty to preserve evidence the way police do, which is why missing messages and edited footage are often the heart of the defense. The Brancato Law Firm subpoenas platform records directly; our internet crimes defense page explains how.

Can a predator catcher sting lead to human trafficking charges?

Usually not, since most of these cases are charged as solicitation or traveling to meet a minor, but the charge depends on what was said about money and other people. The Brancato Law Firm reviews the exact allegations; see our human trafficking defense guide.

Talk to a Tampa Defense Attorney Before the Video Becomes a Case

If a group confronted you, posted a video of you, or demanded money, call The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., founded by Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Rocky Brancato, at (813) 727-7159 before you speak with anyone else. We may be able to keep the matter from becoming an arrest, and if charges come, we start building the defense from the full record. You can call us at any hour, confidentially. Our firm has Spanish-speaking staff, and attorney Jean-Luc Adrien speaks Spanish, Haitian Creole, and French. Read our guide for Spanish-speaking criminal defense clients in Tampa.

For more about our defense strategies, visit our Tampa Sex Crimes Lawyer page.

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
620 E. Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 727-7159
Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. is a Tampa-based criminal defense practice. We are not affiliated with any other Brancato-named law firms.

Florida sorts sex offenses into a handful of charge families: sexual battery, lewd or lascivious offenses, unlawful sexual activity with a minor, child sexual abuse material, online solicitation and traveling to meet a minor, video voyeurism and indecent exposure, prostitution, and human trafficking. Almost all of them are felonies. Many carry mandatory minimum prison terms, which means a judge cannot go below the number no matter what the circumstances are. And nearly all of them carry sex offender registration that lasts for the rest of a person’s life unless a court removes it.

Several new laws that took effect on July 1, 2026 changed this area of the law significantly. Penalties went up across the child exploitation statutes, several offenses gained mandatory minimums that judges previously had discretion over, and the restrictions that follow people after a conviction expanded.

Sex crimes are the most common cases we handle at The Brancato Law Firm. Rocky Brancato spent years in a dedicated Major Crimes Unit at the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office handling only sex offense and child abuse cases, and later ran that office as Chief Operations Officer and Chief Assistant Public Defender, overseeing a staff of over 100 attorneys. One thing we tell nearly everyone who calls: the consequences that arrive after a case ends usually reshape a person’s life more than the sentence does. That is why this guide gives registration, designation, probation, and civil commitment as much room as the charges themselves.

A note on terminology before we start. Florida law no longer uses the phrase “child pornography.” As of July 1, 2026, the statutes use “child sexual abuse material,” often shortened to CSAM. The Legislature wrote the change into the bill as a rename rather than a redefinition, so cases charged under the old language still work the same way.

What Counts as a Sex Offense in Florida?

Florida’s sex offenses are spread across several chapters of the criminal code rather than gathered in one place.

The chapter matters because it determines the penalty structure, whether a mandatory minimum applies, and whether the conviction triggers registration. Two charges that sound similar to a person reading a police report can sit in different chapters and carry sentences decades apart.

Three factors move a charge between tiers more than anything else:

• The age of the alleged victim. Under 12, 12 to 15, 16 to 17, and 18 or older are the dividing lines that appear over and over.
  
• The age of the accused. Nearly every statute treats an offender 18 or older more harshly than one under 18, and several carry mandatory minimums that apply only to adults.
  
• Force, coercion, or a weapon. These aggravators can lift a second-degree felony to a life felony.
  

Prior convictions, custodial authority over the alleged victim, and multiple accused people acting together can also reclassify a charge upward.

Sexual Battery Charges in Florida

Sexual battery is Florida’s legal term for what most people call rape. Section 794.011 defines it as oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another person, or penetration by any other object. Consent under Florida law means intelligent, knowing, and voluntary consent. The statute is explicit that a person’s failure to physically resist does not establish consent.

Penalties turn on the ages of the people involved and whether force was used.

The statute lists the aggravating circumstances that raise a charge a full degree: the alleged victim was physically helpless or physically incapacitated, was administered a drug without their knowledge, was coerced by a threat of force or retaliation, is mentally defective and the accused knew or had reason to believe it, or the accused was a law enforcement or corrections officer or someone else in a position of control or authority. A prior conviction under the same chapter, or the accused holding a position of familial or custodial authority, can also push a charge into a higher tier than the table shows. Our explainer on sexual battery in Florida walks through each subsection in detail.

Capital Sexual Battery and the Death Penalty

Florida law makes sexual battery on a child under 12 by an adult a capital felony. A 2023 law created a sentencing procedure at section 921.1425 that authorizes prosecutors to seek a death sentence in those cases. If the state intends to pursue it, it must file notice within 45 days of arraignment listing the aggravating factors it intends to prove.

The constitutional picture is more complicated than the statute suggests. In Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008), the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment forbids the death penalty for a crime against an individual that does not result in death, including child rape. Florida’s statute openly disputes that ruling, and the Legislature wrote its disagreement with Kennedy into the text. Prosecutors have filed notice of intent to seek death in a small number of cases since the law took effect, but no death sentence has been imposed under it, and Kennedy remains controlling federal law, which means any death sentence entered under the Florida statute would face reversal on appeal. In practice, life imprisonment without parole is the sentence these cases produce.

Lewd or Lascivious Offenses in Florida

Section 800.04 covers lewd or lascivious acts committed upon or in the presence of a person under 16. It contains four separate offenses, and the difference between them is the conduct alleged.

Two rules inside this statute surprise people constantly. Consent is not a defense, and neither is the alleged victim’s lack of chastity. Separately, the statute states that a mistaken but genuine belief about the child’s age cannot be raised as a defense, even if the child lied about their age. We wrote about why age mistakes are no defense because it is one of the most common misunderstandings we hear on intake calls.

Florida has parallel statutes covering lewd or lascivious offenses against elderly or disabled adults, including section 825.1025. Our lewd and lascivious defense guide covers the strategy side of these cases.

What Is the Age of Consent in Florida?

Florida’s age of consent is 18. There is one narrow exception: section 794.05 makes it a second-degree felony for a person 24 or older to engage in sexual activity with a 16 or 17-year-old. A person under 24 is not charged under that statute for the same conduct. So in practical terms, a 16 or 17-year-old can legally consent to a partner who is 23 or younger, and cannot consent to anyone 24 or older.

Below 16, the analysis moves to chapter 794 and section 800.04, and the penalties climb steeply. Sexual activity with a person 12 to 15 is charged as lewd or lascivious battery or as sexual battery depending on the facts.

Our articles on the age of consent, on unlawful sexual activity with minors, and on statutory rape defense cover the age brackets in more detail.

Child Sexual Abuse Material Charges After July 1, 2026

This is the area the 2026 legislature changed most. House Bill 245 replaced “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material” throughout the Florida Statutes. House Bill 1159 raised penalties, added mandatory minimums, and created new offenses. The Senate summaries of HB 245 and HB 1159 set out both bills in full.

Section 827.071 now reads as follows.

Each image is a separate offense under Florida law, and when a single image depicts more than one child, each child is a separate offense. That is how a possession case involving one device turns into an indictment with dozens of counts.

The statute now includes a narrow exception to the mandatory minimums. A court is not required to impose one if it makes written findings that the depicted child was 14 or older, the material was created with that child’s permission, the offender was no more than four years older, and the offender did not send it to any third party.

Transmission is charged separately under section 847.0137, a second-degree felony that carries a five-year mandatory minimum for an offender 18 or older. Our guides on CSAM defense in Tampa and on charge enhancements in these cases go deeper on how counts stack.

AI-Generated Material

Section 827.072 treats computer-generated and AI-generated material as a chargeable offense on its own terms. The 2026 legislation raised intentionally creating generated child sexual abuse material from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony, and created a new second-degree felony for transmitting it. The statute reaches images portraying a fictitious person a reasonable person would take for a real child, so the state does not have to prove that a real child was depicted. That removes what defendants and their families often assume is an obvious defense.

Online Solicitation and Traveling to Meet a Minor

Section 847.0135 is the statute behind most internet sting cases in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties.

• Solicitation. Using a computer, phone, or any device capable of transmitting data to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child, or a person believed to be a child, into unlawful sexual conduct is a third-degree felony. It becomes a second-degree felony if the person misrepresented their own age.
  
• Traveling to meet a minor. Traveling any distance for the purpose of engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with a child, or a person believed to be a child, after using an online service to solicit them is a second-degree felony.
  
• Each message can be its own count. The statute states that each separate use of an online service in violation of the section may be charged as a separate offense.
  

Two features of this statute drive nearly every sting prosecution. First, no actual child needs to exist. If the person on the other end was an undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old, the statute still applies as long as the accused believed they were communicating with a child. Second, the statute says outright that law enforcement involvement in detecting the offense is not a defense, which narrows entrapment arguments to the specific conduct of the officers rather than the existence of the operation.

That leaves the defense work in the details: who initiated contact, who escalated the conversation, what the officer said about age and when, whether the operation induced conduct the person was not otherwise predisposed to, and whether the digital evidence was collected and preserved properly. We cover this in our guides to online sting defense, computer solicitation charges, and traveling to meet a minor. Cases built by private “predator catcher” groups rather than law enforcement raise a different set of problems, which we address in our article on vigilante predator catchers.

Charges of this kind often arrive alongside device seizures and search warrants, which is where our Tampa internet crimes work usually begins.

Video Voyeurism and Indecent Exposure

Section 810.145, now titled digital voyeurism, covers secretly viewing, recording, or broadcasting someone who is dressing, undressing, or exposing their body somewhere they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. The charge level turns on the age of the accused rather than on whether it is a first offense. An offender under 19 commits a first-degree misdemeanor. An offender 19 or older commits a third-degree felony.

The charge rises to a second-degree felony for anyone with a prior conviction under the same section, and for an offense committed by someone responsible for a child’s welfare, by a school employee against a student of that school, or by anyone 24 or older against a child under 16. Sharing or selling the recording is charged separately.

Section 800.03, exposure of sexual organs, is a first-degree misdemeanor on a first conviction and a third-degree felony on a second or subsequent one.

These are the lowest-tier offenses in this guide, and they are still capable of triggering registration in certain circumstances. Our article on video voyeurism charges explains when that happens.

Prostitution and Solicitation Charges

Florida treats prostitution offenses under chapter 796. Most first-time charges here are misdemeanors, and they escalate quickly with repetition.

• Offering to commit prostitution is a second-degree misdemeanor on a first offense, a first-degree misdemeanor on a second, and a third-degree felony on a third or subsequent offense.
  
• Soliciting another person to commit prostitution is a first-degree misdemeanor on a first offense, a third-degree felony on a second, and a second-degree felony on a third or subsequent offense.
  
• Deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution is a second-degree felony on a first offense under section 796.05, and it climbs from there.
  

The escalation structure is why a second charge is a different situation from the first one. Our articles on prostitution law in Florida and on Tampa area prostitution stings cover how these operations are run and charged locally.

Human Trafficking Charges

Section 787.06 covers human trafficking, including trafficking for commercial sexual activity. Trafficking a minor for commercial sexual activity is a life felony, and the statute does not require the state to prove force, fraud, or coercion when the alleged victim is a minor. Trafficking offenses involving adults are generally first-degree felonies.

Trafficking charges frequently attach to conduct that the accused understood as something else entirely, including a prostitution arrangement between adults or a relationship the state characterizes differently. Our Tampa human trafficking defense guide covers the elements the state has to prove.

What Happens After a Sex Crime Conviction in Florida

This is the part almost everyone underestimates. A sentence ends. Registration, designation, and supervision conditions can last the rest of a person’s life, and they govern where a person lives, works, and travels.

Sex Offender Registration in Florida

Under section 943.0435, a person convicted of a qualifying sex offense must register with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and maintain that registration for life, unless they receive a full pardon or the conviction is set aside. Registration obligations include in-person reporting at set intervals, reporting changes of address, vehicle, employment, and email or internet identifiers, and appearing on a public database.

Two points that catch people off guard:

• A withhold of adjudication does not avoid registration. Withholding adjudication keeps a person from being a convicted felon for many purposes, but it does not remove the registration requirement for a qualifying offense. Our article on withhold of adjudication explains what a withhold does and does not do here.

• Juvenile adjudications can trigger it. A juvenile adjudicated delinquent of certain offenses can be required to register. Our parent’s guide to juvenile registration covers when that applies.
  

For the mechanics of the reporting obligation itself, see our guide to sex offender registration in Florida.

Sexual Offender Versus Sexual Predator

These are two different legal statuses, and the distinction has real consequences.

Because predator designation is entered by court order, it can be litigated, and it can be challenged when the criteria were not actually met. We have had a sexual predator designation removed on a motion to correct an illegal sentence after the prosecutor agreed the client did not meet the statutory criteria. Each case is unique. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. We cover the criteria in our guides to the sexual offender designation and the sexual predator designation.

Sex Offender Probation Conditions

Section 948.30 imposes a set of special conditions on anyone placed on probation or community control for a qualifying sex offense. They apply by statute, not at the judge’s discretion. They include:

• A curfew, typically from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
  
• Mandatory treatment with a qualified sex offender therapist
  
• No contact with the alleged victim
  
• A prohibition on possessing obscene or pornographic material
  
• Restrictions on internet and computer use until a therapist evaluates the person
  
• Submission to a DNA sample
  
• Polygraph examinations and electronic monitoring in many cases
  

When the alleged victim was a minor, additional conditions attach automatically, including a prohibition on living within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare, park, playground, or other place where children regularly congregate, and a bar on unsupervised contact with children under 18. Our Florida sex offender probation guide walks through each condition and how violations are charged.

Residency and Proximity Restrictions Expanded in 2026

Senate Bill 212 took effect July 1, 2026 and widened the geography of these restrictions. Under the revised section 775.215, a person convicted of certain sex offenses where the alleged victim was under 16 may not live within 1,000 feet of a school, child care facility, park, playground, or public swimming pool. The pool restriction is new.

 It applies to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026, and to people already subject to residency restrictions who change their permanent residence on or after that date.

The same law made other changes worth knowing:

• The loitering and prowling restriction for registrants near places where children congregate increased from 300 feet to 500 feet.
  
• People on probation, community control, or conditional release for qualifying offenses involving a minor face new prohibitions on living within 1,000 feet of a public swimming pool, working or volunteering at one, or visiting one without prior approval.
  
• State agencies and local governments must check the registry before hiring or appointing anyone, paid or volunteer, at parks, playgrounds, public pools, and child care facilities.
  

The Senate summary of SB 212 lists the full set of amendments. For anyone already registered in Tampa Bay, the practical takeaway is that a move can now trigger the new restrictions even if the underlying conviction predates them.

Can Anyone Get Off the Florida Registry?

Rarely, and only through specific statutory routes. Two exist.

The first is the 25-year petition under section 943.0435(11). A registrant may be considered for removal after at least 25 years since release from confinement, supervision, or sanction, with no arrest for any felony or misdemeanor in that period, and only if the registering offense was not one of the disqualifying offenses listed in the statute. Removal is discretionary with the court even when every requirement is met, and the State Attorney can oppose the petition.

The second is the Romeo and Juliet provision at section 943.04354. It allows a court to remove the registration requirement where the alleged victim was 13 to 17, the offender was no more than four years older, the conduct was consensual, and the person has no other qualifying sex offense conviction.

That provision reaches sexual predators as well as sexual offenders on its face, but the qualifying criteria mean almost nobody carrying a predator designation will meet them. For most predators, the realistic path is a challenge to the designation itself rather than a removal petition.

We should be straightforward about something here. We receive a high volume of registry removal inquiries, and only a small fraction of callers actually qualify under these statutes. Our guides to registry removal and the Romeo and Juliet petition lay out the eligibility criteria so you can see where you stand before you pick up the phone.

Civil Commitment Under the Jimmy Ryce Act

Florida can hold someone in custody after their prison sentence ends. Under the Jimmy Ryce Act, sections 394.910 through 394.932, the state may petition to civilly commit a person as a sexually violent predator shortly before release. The state must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the person has a qualifying prior sex offense conviction and a mental abnormality or personality disorder making them likely to reoffend.

If the petition succeeds, the person is committed to the custody of the Department of Children and Families indefinitely, with annual reviews. Far fewer people are committed than are referred. Our Jimmy Ryce Act guide explains how the referral, the evaluation, and the jury trial work.

How Florida Sex Crime Cases Are Actually Fought

Sex cases are won and lost on preparation. Rocky Brancato has tried more than 150 jury trials to verdict, holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and meets the Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.112 qualifications to defend capital (death penalty) cases, the preparation standard every case in the firm is built to. We have taken a sexual battery charge to trial and come back with a not guilty verdict on that count. Each case is unique. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Here is where the work actually happens.

The Pre-File Window

The period between a report or an arrest and the State Attorney’s filing decision is the most important window in a sex crime case, and the one most often wasted. In Florida, an arrest does not file the charge. The State Attorney’s Office reviews the investigation and makes an independent decision about what to file, whether to file, and how many counts to bring.

Pre-file advocacy means putting evidence and context in front of the detective and the filing prosecutor before that decision is made. Depending on the case, that can include witness statements the detective never collected, digital records that establish a different timeline, medical or forensic material that undercuts the initial report, or documentation of a motive to fabricate.

The Brancato Law Firm has had multiple sex crime investigations close with no charges filed through pre-file work. Each case is unique. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. What makes this window work is understanding how the filing decision is actually made inside a State Attorney’s Office, which is knowledge Rocky brought from running the largest criminal defense operation in Tampa Bay.

Once a charge is filed, the case takes on institutional momentum and everything gets harder. That is the honest reason we tell people not to wait.

Forensic and Digital Evidence

Sex crime prosecutions rest heavily on forensic and digital evidence, and that evidence is challengeable more often than people assume.

On the DNA side, section 943.326 requires a sexual assault kit to be submitted to the state lab within 30 days after law enforcement receives the evidence or the alleged victim requests testing, and requires the lab to complete testing within 120 days after submission. Those deadlines create a record, and the record can be checked. Beyond timing, the substance of a lab result can be examined: bench notes, raw electronic data, the analyst’s interpretation of the profile, and the statistical thresholds applied.

We handled a cold-hit sexual battery case built on an eight-year-old allegation and a CODIS match. Our team subpoenaed the lab’s bench notes, obtained the raw electronic DNA data, had an independent lab review it, and retained an expert geneticist who showed the state’s analyst had misread an allele at a critical locus. One of the state’s own experts agreed, and the prosecutor dismissed the case. Each case is unique. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Medical evidence gets similar scrutiny. Findings from a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and conclusions from a Child Protection Team are often presented as neutral clinical fact when they involve interpretation, and interpretation can carry confirmation bias. Our articles on challenging SANE evidence and our forensic science defense work describe how those challenges are built. Cases involving allegations of harm to a child often run in parallel with our Tampa child abuse defense practice.

Evidence Rules That Apply Only in Sex Cases

Three rules change the shape of a sex crime trial compared to any other felony.

• The Williams Rule. Under section 90.404, when the charge is a sexual offense or child molestation, the state can introduce evidence of the defendant’s other sexual offenses or acts of molestation for its bearing on any relevant matter, which includes propensity. In most criminal cases, prior bad acts stay out. In sex cases, they frequently come in, and the pretrial fight over admissibility can decide the trial. See our guide to the Williams Rule.
  
• Child hearsay. Section 90.803(23) allows an out-of-court statement by a child under 18 describing abuse to be admitted if the court holds a reliability hearing and the child either testifies or is unavailable with corroborating evidence. That means a forensic interviewer or a nurse can relay what a child said. Our child hearsay article covers the reliability hearing.
  
• The rape shield law. Section 794.022 sharply limits evidence of an alleged victim’s prior sexual conduct, with narrow exceptions for establishing the source of semen or injury and for specific patterns proven at a pretrial hearing. Our rape shield guide explains where the exceptions actually apply.

The combined effect is that a consent defense has to be proven through direct evidence and cross-examination rather than through the alleged victim’s history. Our article on the consent defense covers how that is done.

Statements Made to Detectives

Statements the accused made to detectives deserve their own review. Sex crime interrogations are long, they often happen before an arrest when the person believes they are helping, and Florida recognizes an exception that allows a confession to support a conviction with limited independent corroboration. Our articles on false confessions and the confession without corpus exception explain why that combination is dangerous.

Interview technique matters here as much as the words on the transcript. Rocky is a former police academy instructor who taught officers criminal procedure and courtroom testimony, which shapes how we examine investigative technique and cross-examine the detective who ran the interview.

What to Do in the First 48 Hours

If you have been arrested, contacted by a detective, or told you are under investigation, the next two days matter more than any other two days in the case.

1. Stop talking to law enforcement. Say clearly that you are invoking your right to remain silent and your right to an attorney, then stop. Politeness does not require answering questions, and a detective telling you this is your chance to explain is not doing you a favor.
   
2. Do not contact the accuser or their family. Not to apologize, not to ask what happened, not through a friend. Contact can produce a new charge and it hands the state a recorded statement.
   
3. Preserve everything. Do not delete messages, photos, apps, or accounts, and do not reset a device. Deletion is recoverable, it is provable, and it creates a consciousness of guilt argument and potentially a separate charge. Preserve what exists instead.
   
4. Write down the timeline while it is fresh. Names, times, locations, who else was present, what devices were used. Give it to your attorney rather than to anyone else.
   
5. Call a defense attorney before charges are filed. The pre-file window is short and it does not reopen.
   

If contact with a detective has already happened, it is still worth getting counsel involved immediately. If you believe you may have messaged a minor online, our guide covers the steps to take right now.

Talk to a Tampa Sex Crimes Defense Attorney

Sex crime charges in Florida carry consequences that outlast any sentence, and the choices made in the first days of a case tend to shape everything that follows. If you or a family member has been arrested or contacted by a detective in Hillsborough, Pinellas, or Pasco County, call The Brancato Law Firm at (813) 727-7159 for a free and confidential consultation. We handle sex crimes defense from our downtown Tampa office two blocks from the Hillsborough County Courthouse, we give a straight answer about where a case stands, and we provide a clear flat-fee quote before you commit to anything.

If law enforcement arrested you—or you believe you are under investigation—for traveling to meet a minor in Tampa, you need to act immediately. These cases typically begin with undercover sting operations where officers pose as minors online. Even before the State Attorney files charges, the damage to your future may already be underway. At The Brancato Law Firm, P.A., we act quickly to protect your rights and your freedom.

I have over 25 years of criminal defense experience and led an elite sex crimes unit before founding this firm. I understand how law enforcement builds these cases—and how to challenge them.

Elements the State Must Prove

To convict you of traveling to meet a minor under F.S. 847.0135(4), the prosecution must prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt:

The law explicitly states that the involvement of an undercover officer posing as a minor is not a defense. However, each element creates an opportunity to challenge the State’s case.

Penalties for Traveling to Meet a Minor

Florida prosecutors treat these cases with zero tolerance. You need a defense attorney who can expose the weaknesses in their evidence.

How These Cases Arise: The Bait-and-Switch Pattern

Most traveling to meet a minor arrests in Tampa Bay follow a predictable pattern:

1. Law enforcement posts what appears to be a legitimate adult advertisement on an escort or dating website
2. The listing features an adult profile—sometimes using real photos of adults, or old photos of the undercover officer
3. You begin a conversation genuinely believing you are speaking with an adult
4. Partway through the conversation, the “adult” introduces the idea of a minor—typically “14 or 15”
5. The conversation continues under law enforcement control and recording
6. Arrest occurs when you travel toward the meeting location

This shift from adult to minor is not accidental—it is a tactic designed to create the appearance of a crime that did not exist when the communication began.

Defense Strategies

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I be charged if I was talking to an undercover officer, not a real minor?

Yes. Florida law explicitly allows prosecution when the “minor” is actually an undercover officer. The key question is whether you believed you were communicating with a minor. However, I can challenge your intent and raise entrapment defenses when police tactics cross the line.

What if the conversation started with someone I thought was an adult?

This is the bait-and-switch pattern common in Tampa Bay stings. The fact that you initially believed you were speaking with an adult is central to an entrapment defense. I analyze when and how the “minor” was introduced to determine if law enforcement manufactured the crime.

What if I changed my mind and did not complete the meeting?

If you genuinely renounced the plan before any crime occurred—not out of fear of arrest but because you changed your mind—this can be a complete defense under Florida’s renunciation statute. Additionally, lack of completion may support a lack-of-intent argument.

What counts as “traveling” under the statute?

Any movement toward the meeting location can satisfy this element—driving, walking, or taking transportation. You do not need to arrive. However, the State must prove you were actually traveling to the meeting, not simply traveling in that general direction for other reasons.

Is entrapment a valid defense in these cases?

Yes. Entrapment applies when police induce you to commit a crime you were not predisposed to commit. The bait-and-switch pattern—starting as an adult conversation and shifting to a minor—is particularly susceptible to this defense. See my Tampa Entrapment Defense page for more information.

Facing Traveling to Meet a Minor Charges in Tampa?

If you are facing accusations or believe a sting operation targeted you in Tampa, Hillsborough, Pinellas, or Pasco County, call The Brancato Law Firm immediately. I personally handle every sex crimes case—your defense is never outsourced.

Call (813) 727-7159 for a Confidential Consultation

Brancato Law Firm, P.A.

620 E Twiggs Street, Suite 205, Tampa, FL 33602

Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties

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