Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor in Key West

MIAMI – A man has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child after communicating online with an individual he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles imposed the sentence on Clifford Frederic Lind, 41, who used the online alias “it is what it is.” Lind pleaded guilty in April to attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor and attempting to entice a minor.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between May 29 and June 4, 2024, Lind exchanged messages through a social media application and text with someone he believed was an underage girl. During those exchanges, which took place while Lind was in Key West, he sent sexually explicit images and videos of himself and requested images from the individual he believed to be a minor. Lind also discussed plans to meet the purported 13-year-old in person to engage in sexual activity, including details about picking her up and where they would stay.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of FBI Miami made the announcement.

FBI Miami, Key West Resident Agency investigated the case. The Key West Police Department provided invaluable assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Lindsey Maultasch prosecuted the case. Assistant United States Attorney Sara Klco is handling asset forfeiture.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Anyone with information relating to child sexual exploitation or abuse is encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-10008.

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