Florida Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Attempting To Entice A Minor To Engage In Sexual Activity

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Charlene E. Honeywell has sentenced Dameon Kerk Allen (43, St. Petersburg) to 10 years in federal prison for attempting to entice a child to engage in sexual activity. The court also ordered Allen to forfeit the electronic devices he had used in the commission of the offense.

A federal jury had found Allen guilty on November 14, 2019.

According to evidence presented at trial, Allen communicated online and via text messages with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old child. In reality, he was talking to an undercover agent. In the conversations, Allen proposed and planned to meet up with the child to have sex, discussing in graphic detail the sex acts he would engage in when they met.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It was being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lisa M. Thelwell and Colin McDonell.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.