TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General James Uthmeier's Office of Statewide Prosecution has achieved a legal victory by securing a 25-year prison sentence for Lucus Figueroa, a predator charged with 22 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The defendant was found guilty of downloading and distributing CSAM, as well as engaging in explicit communications with other online users.
"This predator possessed at least 22 files of child sexual abuse material featuring minors around the age of 12—and there is evidence of him engaging in disturbing, explicit conversations about a supposed 11-year-old," stated Attorney General James Uthmeier. "Thanks to our law enforcement partners at FDLE and Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Rebecca Smith-Hameroff, this pedophile will spend the next 25 years behind bars."
The investigation was initiated after the messaging app Kik reported Figueroa to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) on suspicions that he possessed 51 files of CSAM. The NCMEC then forwarded the cybertip to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Upon executing a search warrant at Figueroa's residence, FDLE agents discovered several phones and digital devices containing at least 22 files of CSAM involving minors approximately 12 years old.
The case was managed by the Office of Statewide Prosecution under Attorney General Uthmeier.