Source: United States Department of Justice News
Miami, Florida – Joseph Furey Lusk, 47, of Orlando, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon in Ft. Pierce, Florida to attempted production of child pornography and committing an offense involving a minor while required to register as a sex offender. As the result of a previous 2018 Florida state conviction for traveling to meet a minor, Lusk is required to register as a sex offender.
According to court records, in August of 2021, less than one month after his release from state custody, Lusk reached out on social media to someone he believed to be a 15-year-old girl. Over the course of several weeks, Lusk engaged in sexually explicit chats with the girl, in which he encouraged her to send him nude images and videos of herself and friends engaged in sexual activity. Lusk also shared several photographs of his erect penis on social media.
U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon will sentence Lusk on June 13, at 10:00 a.m., in Fort Pierce. Lusk faces between 20 years and life in federal prison.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office made the announcement.
HSI Fort Pierce investigated the case, with assistance from Martin County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey Bergstrom is prosecuting the case.
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 the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-14036.
###