Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that a federal jury today found Dameon Kerk Allen (42, St. Petersburg) guilty of attempted enticement of a child to engage in sexual activity. Allen faces a minimum mandatory term of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 13, 2020.
Allen was indicted on August 20, 2019.
According to evidence presented at trial, Allen communicated online and over text messages with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old child. In reality, he was communicating with an undercover agent. In the conversations, Allen proposed and planned to meet up with the child to have sex, discussing in graphic detail the sex acts he would engage in when they met.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lisa Thelwell and Colin McDonell.
This is another case 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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
