Marion County Man Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Entice A Minor To Engage In Sexual Activity

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Joseph Raymond Morin (51, Ocala) has pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. Morin faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, between May 3 and June 26, 2024, Morin communicated online with someone whom he believed was a 13-year-old girl. The child, however, was an undercover Homeland Security Investigations special agent. Morin engaged in a sexually explicit conversation with the undercover agent. Ultimately, Morin was arrested when he traveled to a pre-determined meeting location in Marion County to meet with the fictious minor to engage in sexual activity.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States 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 sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.