Federal Jury Convicts St. Johns County I.T. Specialist Of Attempted Online Enticement Of A Minor, Advertising For Child Pornography, And Attempted Production Of Child Pornography

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury has found Jon Christopher Stoune (44, Jacksonville) guilty of attempted online enticement of a child to engage in illegal sexual activity, advertising for child pornography, and attempted production of child pornography.  On the attempted enticement count, Stoune faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in prison.  He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, up to 30 years, in federal prison for each of the other charges.  His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 20, 2016.    

According to evidence presented at trial, during March and April 2015, Stoune engaged in a series of online conversations with a person whom he believed to be a 14-year-old child.  The "child" was actually a detective from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.  During the course of these conversations, Stoune discussed in detail his desire to have sex with and obtain pornographic pictures of the “child.”  On April 21, 2015, Stoune drove to St. Augustine Beach to meet the “child” for sex.  He was arrested at the meeting location by officers from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.  Officers recovered a digital camera, several sex toys, and condoms from Stoune’s pants pocket.  A search of his vehicle revealed, among other things, a backpack containing a leather whip, a wooden paddle, a billy club, nylon restraints, and other items designed for use in sadomasochistic activity. 

This case was investigated by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the St. Augustine Beach Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case 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.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.