Federal Jury Convicts Wildwood Man Of Attempting To Entice A 13-Year-Old Child To Engage In Sexual Activity

Ocala, Florida – U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that a federal jury has found Joseph Dibello (48, Wildwood) guilty of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Dibello faces a minimum penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is set for October 17, 2025.

According to evidence presented at trial, on July 23, 2024, Dibello attempted to meet with a 13-year-old girl for sex. Dibello did not realize that he was corresponding with an undercover detective from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office who was posing as a minor on a website. After sending multiple text messages in which he expressed his intention to have sex with the minor, Dibello agreed to meet her at a gas station in Marion County. When he arrived, Dibello realized the meeting was a law enforcement operation. He fled the scene, leading deputies on a high-speed chase that exceeded 100 mph. Dibello was later apprehended at his girlfriend’s home in Wildwood. Dibello later admitted that he was the person who had been corresponding with the minor and that he had intended to have sex with her. 

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tyrie K. Boyer.

This 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.