Repeat Sex Offender from California Sentenced to Life in Prison for Child Exploitation

MIAMI –A registered sex offender from Escondido, California, has been sentenced to life in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Michael Gordon Douglas, 48, was sentenced on August 25, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon to life in prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervision as a sex offender. Douglas was also ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution. A federal jury convicted Douglas in May, following a five-day trial, of seven counts of CSAM distribution and one count of attempted enticement of a minor.

According to court records and evidence introduced during the trial, in 2023, Douglas communicated with an undercover agent who he believed was the mother of an eight-year-old girl.  During the conversations, Douglas distributed CSAM to the undercover agent and arranged to meet the eight-year-old girl to have sex with her. On the day of a planned meeting in California, Douglas spotted law enforcement and attempted to flee in his vehicle. Agents stopped Douglas, and a female passenger jumped out screaming, “He’s got a grenade, he’s going to kill us!” Douglas then displayed what appeared to be a real grenade—later determined to be a replica—and engaged in a brief standoff with a SWAT team before being taken into custody.

Prior to his conviction in the instant case, Douglas was convicted in California in 2011 of distribution of matter depicting a minor in sexual conduct, possession of matter depicting a minor in sexual conduct, and attempt to distribute harmful matter to a minor.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Special Agent in Charge Jose Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami, and Special Agent in Charge Shawn S. Gibson of HSI San Diego announced the sentence.

The case was investigated by HSI agents located in West Palm Beach, Florida and Oceanside, California.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Chapman and Adam McMichael prosecuted the case. 

The Justice Department is committed to combating child sexual exploitation. These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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 23-cr-80219.

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