Tallahassee, Florida – Willard Lawrence Gibson, 48 of Seattle, Washington, was sentenced in federal court to 30 years in federal prison for one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children, one count of attempted enticement of a minor, one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, and one count of distribution of child pornography. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “This successful prosecution and substantial prison sentence were made possible thanks to the outstanding investigative work of our state and federal law enforcement partners who are zealously pursuing sexual predators, like this defendant, wherever they lurk to keep our kids safe from exploitation and victimization. My office is firmly committed to aggressively prosecuting these horrific crimes to ensure our kids are safe both online and in our communities.”
Court documents reflect that in July 2025, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and other state and federal law enforcement agencies conducted an undercover operation focused on identifying individuals using the internet to sexually exploit children. During that operation, the defendant began communicating through a social media platform with an undercover officer posing as a child, and the conversation later moved to text messaging. During their interactions, the defendant sent the undercover officer two images of child sexual abuse material. Further, court records show that, on multiple occasions, the defendant asked the undercover officer to produce child pornography images and send them to him. When the defendant was arrested in Seattle, his cell phone was seized as evidence and a subsequent search of the device revealed multiple child sexual abuse material images and videos. The defendant’s phone also contained other evidence confirming that he communicated with the undercover officer.
After serving his term of 30 years’ imprisonment, Gibson will have to register as a sexual offender and be on supervised release for the remainder of his life.
“Predators who use sexually explicit material to groom, manipulate, or prey on a child is committing a calculated and unforgivable abuse of that child’s trust and vulnerability,” said Homeland Security Investigations Tampa Acting Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. “HSI and our law enforcement partners will pursue those who seek to groom, coerce, or exploit children online, bring every available investigative resource to bear, and we will work to ensure they face the full consequences of their crimes.”
This case was a joint investigation by the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Seattle Police Department and the King County, Washington, Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric W. Welch.
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. 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, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
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 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 https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.