Former Navy Sailor Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – William Charles Huff Jr., 32, a former active duty Navy sailor stationed in Pensacola, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release, after pleading guilty on October 6, 2017, to attempted enticement of a minor for sex.  The sentence was announced by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

In October 2016, Huff began text messaging a 13-year-old girl from central Florida.  Huff knew the child from a church they both attended.  When the child’s parents discovered the content of the text messages, they told her to stop communicating with Huff and contacted law enforcement officers.  The child’s parents gave permission for an undercover officer to assume her identity and take control of her cellular telephone.

In February 2017, Huff and the undercover officer, acting as the child, began communicating via text message and later through a shared e-mail account that Huff set up.  During this time, Huff told the undercover officer about his sexual desires for the child.  The undercover officer indicated that the child would be going to Destin, Florida, for spring break with a friend.  In March 2017, Huff drove from his residence at the Naval Air Station Pensacola to Destin and was arrested when he arrived at the designated meeting location.

The case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, and the Beech Grove, Indiana, Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey M. Tharp.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.  To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website.  For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.