A Florida man has been charged with the enticement of a minor and transfer of obscene material to a minor, after riding his bike for three hours to meet a child.
Dylan Joseph Thibodeau, 23, of Punta Gorda, faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison.
Thibodeau made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Julie S. Sneed today and was ordered detained pending trial.
According to the complaint and court proceedings, in August 2022, Thibodeau began texting with an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old child.
The child was actually an undercover officer. Over the course of three and a half months, Thibodeau made plans to engage in oral and anal sex and impregnate the child before she turned 18 years old.
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Thibodeau also requested that the child produce nude images of herself to send him and he sent the purported child sexually explicit photos of himself.
On December 3, 2022, Thibodeau rode his bicycle approximately three hours from Punta Gorda to North Port to meet the 14-year-old for sex.
Law enforcement apprehended Thibodeau when he arrived at the predetermined location.
A complaint 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.
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