Registered Sex Offender Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

 Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that a federal jury today found Vince Edward Lasane (48, Orlando) guilty of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and committing the offense while required to register as a sex offender under Florida law. Lasane faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 30, 2020.

Lasane was indicted on November 13, 2019.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in 2007, Lasane was convicted of attempted sexual battery on a child under the age of 12. As part of his sentence, the court designated Lasane a sexual predator and ordered him to register as a sex offender in the State of Florida for life.

In September 2019, Lasane met a 14 year-old girl on a social networking website. During the next five weeks, Lasane enticed and persuaded the girl to engage in sexual activity, communicating with her through text messages and phone calls. In late October, Lasane arranged to meet the girl at a restaurant in Orlando, which was within walking distance of the apartment where she had been staying. Lasane assured the girl that he would wear a condom so that she would not get pregnant. After attending his court-ordered sexual offender treatment meeting, Lasane traveled to the location to meet the child. When Lasane arrived, law enforcement officers arrested him. The officers found a condom and the cellphone Lasane had used to communicate with the child in his pocket. The 14 year-old girl was actually a law enforcement officer acting in an undercover capacity.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable.

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.