Georgia Man Found Guilty Of Attempting To Entice A Minor To Engage In Sexual Activity And Interstate Travel With Intent To Engage In Illicit Sexual Conduct

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Dustin M. Hatcher, 39, of Sale City, Georgia, was found guilty by a federal jury of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The guilty verdict returned yesterday afternoon, at the conclusion of a day-and-a-half trial, was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Between February 15-17, 2024, multiple local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies conducted a proactive joint undercover investigative operation aimed at identifying and locating adults who were interested in engaging in sexual activity with minors. During this operation, an undercover investigator posted an ad on a website advertising that he and his (fictitious) 14-year-old niece—who another undercover investigator was posing as—were available for a sex encounter. The undercover investigator received messages from Hatcher indicating that he was interested in meeting and having sex with the undercover investigator and the (fictitious) niece. Hatcher agreed to meet up at a gas station in Tallahassee, Florida, where he was arrested by members of the Leon County Sheriff's Office and Homeland Security Investigation.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 4, 2024, at 3:00 p.m., at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before Chief United States District Judge Mark E. Walker. Hatcher faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life imprisonment, followed by a term of 5 years to life of supervised release.

This conviction was the result of a joint undercover investigative operation conducted by the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Tallahassee Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen prosecuted the case.

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 and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it 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.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access available public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.