A federal jury has found Gabriel Almenas Carrasquillo, of Orlando, guilty of using the internet and his cellphone to attempt to entice a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity, announced United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg.
Almenas faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release. Almenas was ordered detained after the return of the verdict. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 18, 2023.
According to evidence and testimony introduced during the three-day trial, on August 11, 2022, an undercover agent (UC) with the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation was posing online on a social media application (app) as a 13-year-old child seeking to identify individuals with a sexual interest in children. Almenas initiated a conversation with the UC, typing “You r really beautiful.” When Almenas asked if “he” was 18, the UC advised that “he” was “a little younger,” and stated, “I’ll be fourteen in a few months …” Almenas responded, “Oh wow you look really quite develop,” and “… I’m down to keep getting to know you more …” The two discussed meeting and Almenas confirmed that the “child” would be alone without adult supervision that entire evening.
At Almenas’s suggestion, their online conversation moved to another social media app. Almenas then described the sexual acts that he wanted to perform on the “child,” and he sent the UC a video depicting Almenas’s genitalia. A short time later, Almenas drove to a pre-determined location in Orlando where he believed that the “child” was staying and was subsequently arrested. In an interview, Almenas stated, among other things, that he knew that the “child” was underage when he came to meet “him,” and agreed that he “took a chance and showed up for the 13-year-old.” He also admitted that he brought the lubricant found in his backpack to engage in sexual acts with the “child.”
This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Orlando. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.
