Registered Sex Offender Sentenced To 235 Months In Prison 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, Boynton Beach Police Department (BBPD), announce that Paul David Culbreth, 52, of Loxahatchee, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp to 235 months in prison, a life term of supervised release and will have to continue to register as a sex offender, for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2422(b).

Culbreth pled guilty to enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity on May 15, 2014. According to court records, Culbreth sent numerous sexually explicit messages via a web-based social media application to an undercover officer who posed 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. Culbreth was found with lubricant and condoms in his vehicle and is a registered sex offender in Palm Beach County.

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.

Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Aronberg commended the investigative and cooperative efforts of ICE-HSI, BBPD and the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam McMichael and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and Assistant State Attorney Gregory Schiller.

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.