Tallahassee, Florida – Dawaun Shunard Jackson, 40, of Tallahassee, Florida, was sentenced in federal court to 20 years in prison for one count of attempted enticement of a minor and one count of penalties for registered sex offenders. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. U.S.
Attorney Heekin said: “This predator has clearly shown from his repeated crimes that the only way we can guarantee the safety of our children from his continued sexual deviance is by keeping him locked away in federal prison. My office is happy to oblige, and he’ll spend the next two decades behind bars. I deeply appreciate the excellent, collaborative work of the Tallahassee Police Department and the FBI to identify and stop offenders, like this defendant, from harming our kids, and my office will back up their great work with aggressive prosecutions to keep those sexual predators off our streets.”Court documents reflect that between November 20 and 22, 2025, the Tallahassee Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other state and federal law enforcement agencies, conducted an undercover operation focused on identifying individuals using the internet to sexually exploit children. During the operation, an undercover officer posed as a 15-year-old girl and posted an ad on a website known for the solicitation of escorts.
Court records show that the defendant responded to the ad and believed that he was communicating with a minor child, and that the defendant offered money in exchange for sex with the child and arranged to meet in Tallahassee. Further investigation that the defendant was a registered sex offender. After the defendant was arrested, his cell phone was seized as evidence, and a subsequent search of the device confirmed that he communicated with the undercover officer who posed as a 15-year-old girl.After serving his term of 20 years’ imprisonment, Jackson will have to serve a lifetime term of supervised release. He will also have to continue registering as a sexual offender.
“Children should never become the target of someone seeking to exploit them,” said Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell. “Our investigators work alongside our federal partners every day to identify offenders, intervene before they can harm a child, and hold them accountable. This sentence sends a clear message that those who prey on children will be relentlessly pursued and brought to justice.”“Predators who target children should know there is no place to hide,” said FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Jason Carley. “Protecting children from sexual exploitation remains one of the FBI’s highest priorities.
The FBI, alongside our partners, will use every resource available to identify, investigate and bring child predators to justice.”The case involved a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Tallahassee Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen.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 U.S.
Attorneys' Offices and 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 Justice.gov/PSC.The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit theU.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website.
For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.