A St. Cloud man will spend at least a decade behind bars after pleading guilty to the attempted enticement of an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl to create sexually explicit pictures and videos.
On Wednesday, July 3, U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Daniel Michael Mohat, 27, has pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.
According to the plea agreement, in August of 2022, an online undercover operation was conducted by multiple law enforcement agencies in the area of Nassau County. The goal of the operation was to identify and apprehend individuals who were using the internet to exploit minors for sexual activity.
During the operation, Mohat contacted one of the undercover agents on social media who was posing as a 14-year-old girl. Over a several-day period, Mohat engaged in “sexually oriented conversation” with the undercover agent.
In addition, Mohat made multiple requests for the “14-year-old girl” to create explicit videos and pictures of herself and send them to him.
This case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Mesrobian.
Mohat faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.