Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced Michael Manswell (30, Bronx, NY) to 3 years and 10 months in federal prison for making a false statement. He pleaded guilty on December 9, 2016.
According to court documents, on March 7, 2016, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement interviewed Manswell as part of an investigation involving sex trafficking. During the interview, Manswell stated that he was friends with a particular minor, but falsely denied any type of relationship with that minor. He further stated that they had not had intimate sexual contact of any kind within the past two years. These statements were false, as Manswell and the minor had frequently engaged in sexual contact during that time, including intimate sexual relations while the minor was under the age of 18.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the FDLE. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Washington and former Deputy Chief Assistant United States Attorney Mac D. Heavener.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.