A man the Port St. Lucie Police Department arrested in 2018 during an undercover child sex case has been sentenced to 12 ½ years in prison.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida announced the sentencing of Jonathan Anthony Mahowald, 39, of Leesburg, Fla.
He had been convicted on charges that included the attempted enticement of a minor online to engage in illegal sexual activity.
Along with a prison term of 12 ½ years, Mahowald will undergo 30 years of supervised release and will have to register as a sex offender.
The case against Mahowald began in July 2018 when a Port St. Lucie police detective who was investigating, undercover, computer crimes against children, responded to an advertisement Mahowald posted.
The detective posed as a 14-year-old girl and engaged with Mahowald in texts and online communications. Over a period of time, Mahowald discussed sexually explicit activity he wished to engage in with the child, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He also sent sexually explicit images to the “child.”
A year after first communicating with the undercover detective, Mahowald set up a meeting with the “girl” at a Port St. Lucie restaurant, but when he arrived, he was arrested by the Port St. Lucie Police Department.
