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Attorney General Bill McCollum News Release
April 7, 2008
en Español
Print Version
Media Contact: Sandi Copes
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Deltona Man Gets 15 Years for Traveling to Meet "Child" for Sex
~ "Traveler" is the first individual prosecuted by the CyberCrime Unit to be sentenced under new CyberCrime law ~
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Deltona man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to several criminal charges including traveling to meet a minor for unlawful sexual act, soliciting a minor via computer, and transmitting harmful material to a minor. Authorities with the CyberCrime Unit arrested Douglas R. Phillips last October after he traveled to meet who he thought was a 14-year old girl for sex. He is the first individual prosecuted by the CyberCrime Unit to be sentenced under the CyberCrimes Against Children Act of 2007. His prison sentence will be followed by 15 years of sex offender probation.
An undercover investigator with the CyberCrime Unit was approached in an internet chatroom by Phillips, who believed he was talking to a teenage girl. Over two weeks of conversation, Phillips, 47, sexually solicited the "girl" online and sent multiple pornographic images to the agent. Eventually, Phillips told the "girl" he wanted to meet her and take her to live with him. Phillips was taken into custody by law enforcement officers with the CyberCrime Unit, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. He was the 50th arrest made by McCollum’s CyberCrime Unit and the first by the unit's Orlando Office, which opened just weeks before the arrest.
A copy of Phillips’ booking photograph is available online at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-78AKRS/$file/PhillipsMugShot.jpg. As part of his probation, Phillips must also register as a sex offender with the state.
Phillips's actions were charged under the CyberCrimes Against Children Act, which created a new crime for traveling to meet a child or someone believed to be a child for the purpose of sexually assaulting that person. The legislation was championed by Attorney General McCollum during last year’s legislative session and gives Florida some of the strongest laws in the nation against child pornographers and internet child predators.
The CyberCrime Unit's mission is to protect children from computer-facilitated sexual exploitation. The unit does this by working cooperatively on a statewide basis with law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to provide resources and expertise, while preventing the spread of these crimes through education and community awareness. The unit is a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) of North Florida, as is the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.