Registered Sex Offender Living In Palm Beach County, Florida Arrested For Attempting To Entice A Minor To Engage In Unlawful Sexual Activity

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, Office of the State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, (ICE-HSI), and Jeffrey S. Katz, Chief of Police, Boynton Beach Police Department, (BBPD), announce that Paul David Culbreth, 52, of Loxahatchee, Florida, appeared in federal court today for an initial appearance on the charge of attempting to entice a minor to engage in an illegal sexual activity. If convicted, he faces a 10 year mandatory term of imprisonment and a maximum term of life..

According to the criminal complaint, Culbreth sent numerous sexually explicit messages via a web-based social media application to an undercover officer posing as a 15 year old boy. Culbreth then attempted to meet the minor to engage in illegal sexual activity on New Year’s Eve. Culbreth was arrested by Special Agents from ICE-HSI after he drove to a location where he believed he would pick up the 15 year old boy; lubricant and condoms were found in his vehicle on arrest. Culbreth is a registered sex offender in Palm Beach County, Florida.

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 locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue those victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative and cooperative efforts of ICE-HSI and BBPD. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam McMichael and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller from the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.

A criminal complaint is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.