FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — A Fernandina Beach man is facing a federal charge after he sent explicit messages with an FBI agent he believed had access to an 11-year-old child, according to a Department of Justice release.
William Paige, 50, was arrested Dec. 18 and arraigned in federal court Monday.
On Nov. 29, an undercover FBI agent in Jacksonville was conducting an online operation to locate people who were seeking to meet and engage in sexual activity with children, the release said, posing as a person with access to an 11-year-old child.
The undercover agent was on a social messaging app and was contacted by an individual with the username “ah..904,” later identified as Paige and the two conversed between Nov. 29 and Dec. 11 in a series of online conversations on the app and emails, the release continued.
The release said Paige discussed his desire to meet the “child” for sexual activity and sent the undercover agent several videos depicting the sexual abuse of young children. On Dec. 18, 2023, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at Paige’s residence and arrested him.
If convicted, Paige faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years to life in federal prison as well as a potential lifetime term of supervised release, the release said.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.