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JACKSONVILLE MAN INDICTED AND ARRESTED
ON FEDERAL CHARGES OF ATTEMPTED ONLINE
ENTICEMENT OF A MINOR CHILD TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY

Jacksonville, FL - U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill, Bill McCollum, Florida Attorney General, and James Casey, Special Agent in Charge of the Jacksonville Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), today announced the federal grand jury indictment and arrest of Robert William Godwin, age 30, a resident of Jacksonville. The indictment charges Godwin with attempted enticement over the Internet of a person whom he believed to be a minor child to engage in sexual activity for which a person can be charged with a criminal offense under the laws of the State of Florida, that is, the crime of lewd or lascivious battery upon a person less than 16 years of age. If convicted, Godwin faces a mandatory minimum sentence of not less than 10 years and up to life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Godwin is currently in custody and is scheduled for a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas E. Morris on September 3, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at the U.S. Courthouse in Jacksonville.

This case is being investigated by the Child Predator CyberCrime Unit of the Florida Attorney General's Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information on Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's Child Predator CyberCrime Unit is a member of the FBI Cyber Taskforce in Jacksonville and the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a federally funded program working nationwide to educate and support law enforcement to stop these crimes.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.