TALLAHASSEE – Attorney General Charlie Crist today announced the
arrest of a Texas man for soliciting a minor online after investigators
with the Attorney General?s CyberCrime Unit were approached by the man
through an internet chatroom. Acting on a tip from the Florida
investigators, agents with the Dallas Police Department?s Internet Crimes
Against Children Task Force arrested Scott Daniel Allred.
Crist?s investigators established contact with Allred, a 34-year-old
Richardson, Texas, resident in an online chatroom as part of their ongoing
efforts to uncover internet crimes against children. Allred, using the
screename ?Cubmaster4boys,? believed he was befriending a 15-year-old
Florida boy, when in fact he was chatting with an undercover law
enforcement officer. The communication continued over a 14-day period,
during which Allred tried to talk the ?boy? into performing sexual acts
with him and also exposed himself in a lewd-manner while on live web-cam
during their conversations. Allred then made several statements to the
?boy? indicating there may be an actual child in Texas that was in imminent
danger of sexual abuse. The investigator immediately alerted Texas
authorities, who took Allred into custody after executing search warrants
at his home and workplace.
“This case shows just how easy it can be for predators to use the
Internet to reach across huge distances to threaten innocent children,”
said Crist. “Fortunately, we can reach just as far to pursue these
predators and make sure they end up behind bars.?
Texas authorities are charging Allred with two counts of online
solicitation of a minor. If convicted of all charges, he will face up to 2
years in Texas prison and a fine of up to $10,000. He will also be required
to register as a sexual offender in the state of Texas.
The CyberCrime Unit’s mission statement directs it to protect
children from computer-facilitated sexual exploitation by working
cooperatively on a statewide basis with law enforcement and prosecution
agencies to provide resources and expertise, while preventing the spread of
these crimes through education and community awareness. This arrest is the
sixth that the unit has facilitated since its inception in November 2005.
