Brevard County man pleads guilty to child exploitation

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Brevard County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of attempting to induce a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity using the Internet. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

Jonathan Tyler Prive, 26, of West Melbourne, faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years, up to life in federal prison, as well as a potential life term of supervised release. He was indicted Feb. 19; a sentencing date has not yet been set.

"HSI will continue to pursue those who sexually exploit our children and deprive them of their innocence," said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa.

According to court documents, in September and October of 2013 an undercover agent with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office conducted an investigation into an individual identified to be Michael Glenn Glascock. The undercover investigation revealed that Glascock was sexually abusing a three-year-old minor victim, producing child pornography images of the minor victim and distributing some of these images to others. Law enforcement agents eventually arrested Glascock at his residence in Brevard County, located the minor victim, and executed a search warrant at Glascock's residence. A forensic examination of Glascock's electronic devices and a review of his email accounts revealed emails between Prive and Glascock. In these emails, the two individuals discussed a prior incident where Prive sexually abused the minor victim at Glascock's home, while Glascock was present. After discovering these emails, the undercover agent used Glascock's email account to initiate online communication with Prive.

On Nov. 4 and 5, 2013, Prive communicated with the undercover agent, via the Internet and emails, and arranged to meet the undercover agent, who was posing as Glascock in these emails, for the purpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity with the minor victim a second time. Prive agreed to meet at a residence in Brevard County, where Prive thought the minor victim would be present. Agents followed Prive as he travelled to the street where this residence was located. Before Prive arrived at the residence, agents stopped him and recovered a packet of lubricant that he had brought with him for his planned meeting with the minor victim.

During a subsequent interview with agents, Prive admitted that he was the user of the email account that had communicated with Glascock and the undercover agent regarding the sexual abuse of the minor victim. Prive also admitted to the agents that he had in fact engaged in illegal sexual activity with the minor victim and, that he planned to engage in the sexual abuse of the minor victim a second time when he travelled to the Brevard County residence Nov, 5, 2013.

On Aug. 18, Glascock also pleaded guilty to federal charges of production of child pornography and attempted online enticement of a minor. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.