Tampa Republic

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Imran Siddiqi (40, North Port) has pleaded guilty to attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor and committing a felony offense involving a minor as a registered sex offender. Siddiqi faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment on the first count, followed by a minimum mandatory 10-year sentence on the second count. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, between January 31 and March 6, 2024, Siddiqi engaged in a conversation with an undercover law enforcement officer posing online as a 13-year-old girl. During the conversation, Siddiqi repeatedly described his desire to have sex with the child, sending multiple explicit photographs of himself along with images of adult pornography to the undercover officer. Siddiqi, a registered sex offender, was convicted in state court of traveling to meet a parent to solicit/entice a child to commit a sex act in 2016.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.