Man convicted of trying to entice minor online, traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – At the conclusion of a two-day trial, an Alabama man was found guilty Tuesday of using the Internet to persuade, induce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and traveling across state lines to engage in sexual conduct. This case was investigated by the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and the Gainesville Police Department.

On June 13, 2012, law enforcement officers acting in an undercover capacity posted an advertisement on Craigslist.org purporting to be a 13-year-old girl. Jeffrey Monroe Roy, 48, of Mobile, responded to the posting. For the next three days, Roy engaged in sexual email chats and telephone calls with a girl named Jaz who he believed was 13 years old. During his communications with Jaz, Roy discussed numerous sexual situations and attempted to entice her to engage in sexual activity with him. He arranged to meet her in person at a predetermined location in Panama City. Roy drove from Mobile on June 16, 2012. Once he arrived at the Panama City location, law enforcement arrested him. He had Viagra, condoms, a camera, a knife, handcuffs, a first aid kit and a deck of 52 sex position cards in his possession.

As a result of the guilty verdict, Roy faces between 10 years to life in prison for the attempted online enticement of a minor and up to 30 years in prison for traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. He also faces a fine up to $250,000 and at least five years of supervised release after he serves his prison term.

Roy is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20.

The investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 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, 1-800-843-5678.

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.