Jacksonville Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Entice a 13-Year-Old Child to Engage in Sexual Activity

Jacksonville, Florida - Jerry Alexander Cobb (38, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to using his cellphone and the internet to attempt to entice a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. Cobb faces a minimum penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison and a potential lifetime term of supervised release. His sentencing hearing has been set for May 27, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to court documents, between July 18 and August 1, 2025, an FBI agent (UC) in Jacksonville was conducting an undercover operation on an online social media application (app) to identify adults who were seeking to make contact with and engage in sexual activity with children. During this operation, UC and app user "Jerry," later identified as Cobb, exchanged several private online text messages on the app. After UC advised "Jerry" that "she" was only 13 years old, "Jerry" texted, "[w]e can be friends" and repeatedly asked for the location of the "child's" residence, whether the "child" could "sneak out at night," and if "she" was a "virgin."

On July 30, 2025, "Jerry" texted the "child" that they should meet and texted, "[y]ou want to just get a hotel room?" "Jerry" suggested that they engage in sexual activity in the hotel room and promised that he would bring and use a condom. On July 31, 2025, Cobb texted the "child," "[y]es I'm serious that we can [have] sex." The next day, Cobb and the "child" made plans to meet for sexual activity later that day in Jacksonville.

That evening, Cobb traveled to the location where he intended to meet the purported 13-year-old "child" for sex. Upon arrival, Cobb was arrested by FBI agents.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify, rescue, and seek justice for child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.