March 27, 2009
For more information contact:
Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Dixie A. Morrow
(850) 444-4000
FEDERAL CHARGES FILED AGAINST ALABAMA MAN FOR TRAVELING TO PENSACOLA TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTS WITH A MINOR
Pensacola, Florida - United States Attorney Thomas F. Kirwin, Northern District of Florida, announced today David Allen Girard, 53, of Robertsdale, Alabama, was charged by federal criminal complaint for using a computer facility to entice or induce a minor to engage in sexual activity and traveling to engage in illicit sexual activity.
The criminal complaint alleges that the defendant was on the website “gay.com.” While on the website, the defendant began to correspond with someone who appeared to be a 14-year-old boy. During the correspondence, the defendant discussed engaging in sexual relations with the 14-year-old boy. The defendant then arranged to meet the boy in Pensacola, Florida. The defendant drove his vehicle from Alabama to Florida for that meeting. When the defendant arrived, however, the “14-year- old-boy” turned out to be law enforcement officers who had been on the Internet trying to detect those who entice or induce minors to engage in sexual activity. The defendant was taken into custody. Law enforcement officers found on his person and seized condoms and personal lubrication.
A criminal complaint is merely a charging instrument. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in United States District Court. The defendant is scheduled to appear before United States Magistrate Judge Miles Davis on Monday March 30, 2009 at 11:00 AM.
The investigation was spearheaded by the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, commonly known as “ICAC.” The ICAC includes members of the Pensacola Police Department, the Milton Police Department, the Pensacola Junior College Police Department, the Fort Walton Police Department, the Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton County Sheriff’s Offices, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Office of the Attorney General, the Florida Division of Probation and Parole, the Florida Division of Children and Family Services and Child Protection Team, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg.