St. Pete Man Sentenced To 27 Years For Production Of Child Sexual Abuse Material And Attempted Enticement Of A Minor To Engage In Sexual Activity

Ocala, Florida - United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced David Araujo (57, St. Petersburg) to 27 years and 3 months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, for production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Araujo entered a guilty plea on July 23, 2025.

According to the plea agreement and court records, in July 2024 during an operation hosted by the Marion County Sheriff's Office, an undercover officer from the Ocala Police Department posed online as a 14-year-old prostitute (UC). Araujo messaged the UC and, after learning the UC's age, engaged in a sexually explicit conversation with the UC. During the conversation, Araujo also described to the UC a prior relationship he had had with another minor. Araujo was arrested by law enforcement when he drove from St. Petersburg to Marion County to meet with the UC to engage in sexual activity. A search of Araujo's cellphone revealed he had produced CSAM with the previous minor victim on September 25, 2023.

This case was investigated by the Marion County Sheriff's Office, the Ocala Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.

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.