Jacksonville, Florida – A federal jury has found Paul Edward
Lee, Jr. (40, Jacksonville) guilty of knowingly soliciting a minor to produce
and send pornographic videos and images depicting sexual abuse of the minor. In
2011, Lee was convicted of lascivious molestation and exhibition of a child
under 12 years old and, therefore, is required to register as a sexual
predator. Because of this prior conviction, Lee faces an enhanced mandatory
minimum penalty of 25 years, and up to, 50 years in federal prison, and a
potential life term of supervised release in this case. Lee was arrested at his
residence in Jacksonville on May 2, 2018. His sentencing hearing is set for
July 6, 2020.
According to evidence and testimony introduced at trial, a
law enforcement officer in Illinois discovered that a 14-year-old child was
having online contact with an adult male in Florida through a smart phone
gaming application designed for use by children. The messages sent to the child
by the adult male were increasingly graphic and sexual in nature. The FBI was
able to identify this adult male as Paul Edward Lee, Jr., and discovered that
Lee was a registered sexual predator living in Jacksonville.
On April 25, 2018, an FBI agent in Jacksonville posing as
the minor child continued to engage with Lee through text messaging. During
these communications, Lee told the “child” in graphic terms how he wanted to
have sex with the child and sent several images and videos of his own genitalia
to the child. Two days later, Lee
repeatedly texted and solicited the child to produce and send him graphic
images and videos of the child’s genitalia. When FBI agents executed a search
warrant at Lee’s residence on May 2, 2018, Lee attempted to destroy his
cellular telephone in an effort to conceal evidence of his activity.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by
Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
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