United States of America v. Geoffrey Lee Dudding

Jacksonville, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with using his cellphone and the internet to attempt to entice an 11-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. He was also ordered to serve a lifetime term of supervised release.

On January 13, 2025, an FBI agent (UC) in Jacksonville was conducting an undercover operation to identify individuals seeking to make online contact with and engage in sexual activity with children. Posing as the parent of an 11-year-old child, UC posted several short messages in a public chat room on an online social messaging platform (app). An individual using the app name “metalh34d321,” who was subsequently identified as Geoffrey Lee Dudding (40, Concord, NC) , contacted UC by private text message on the app and expressed sexual interest in UC’s “daughter.” Dudding told UC, “Let me know if ya ever down to let me do her.” Despite being advised that the “child” was 11 years old and lived in Florida, Dudding stated that he wanted to meet the “child” and “[h]ave a good time and sex.” Dudding described the sexual acts that he wanted to perform on the “child” and sent UC a video of himself performing a sex act to show to the “child.”

Dudding and UC also communicated by cellphone text messaging. They discussed plans for Dudding to travel to Jacksonville so that he could engage in sexual activity with the “child.” Dudding told UC that he intended to book a hotel room in Jacksonville for the sexual encounter with the “child.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cabarrus County (NC) Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

The Defendant was found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in prison.