JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man will spend 30 years in federal prison for attempting to entice a minor into sending sexually explicit videos and images to him, according to the United States Department of Justice.
A release from the DOJ says 44-year-old Paul Lee was arrested in May 2018 for soliciting an undercover FBI agent posing as a 14-year-old girl. He's been in federal custody since.
According to evidence presented during Lee's trial, an FBI agent in Illinois found out a 14-year-old was messaging with an adult living in Florida using an app designated for use by minors. The FBI identified the adult as Lee, who was previously convicted of lascivious molestation and exhibition of a 10-year-old. He was living in a Jacksonville home with eight other registered sex offenders at the time of the crime.
The agent said the messages sent to the child from the adult became "increasingly graphic and sexually explicit," the release states.
In April 2018, an undercover FBI agent posed as a 14-year-old child and began messaging with Lee.
During the communication, Lee told the "child" how he wanted to have sex with the "child" and sent graphic images and videos to the "child," according to the DOJ.
Two days after the investigation began, Lee repeatedly solicited the "child" to take and send sexually explicit images and videos to him, the report states.
Less than a week later, a federal search warrant was executed by agents at Lee's residence.
Agents said Lee attempted to damage his phone to erase all evidence of his criminal activity, but was arrested.
The DOJ says Lee will also spend the rest of his life under supervised release after serving his 30 years prison sentence.
