Fort Myers, Florida – James Gregory Ford (34, Port Charlotte) was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell to 15 years in federal prison for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. Ford was also sentenced to a 30-year term of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty on May 6, 2026.U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
According to court documents, in October 2025, law enforcement began investigating Ford after a minor’s parent had reported observing conversations with Ford and seeing nude photographs and videos that had been sent on a social media platform on the minor’s cellphone.
On October 28, 2025, law enforcement interviewed Ford concerning his sexual communications with the minor using a social media application. Ford admitted to engaging in conversations and exchanging inappropriate messages and images with the minor, that he had initiated communications with the minor, and acknowledged receiving and sending explicit photographs. Ford also admitted to requesting inappropriate images from the minor, including images of the minor’s intimate body parts and suggestions of sexual acts.
A forensic examination of Ford’s cellphone revealed that the social media account belonging to Ford had been used to communicate with the minor, and images and videos of the minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct were located.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, and with assistance from law enforcement in Texas. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.
This is another case 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 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 and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Middle District of Florida — U.S. Department of Justice press release.