U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Chad Allen Pease, a 49-year-old from Fort Pierce, to 22 years and 7 months in federal prison. Pease was found guilty by a federal jury on November 20, 2024, for attempting to entice or induce a minor to engage in sexual activity and committing a felony offense involving a minor while being required to register as a sex offender.
Testimony and evidence at the trial revealed that on February 3, 2024, Pease began communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer (UC), whom he believed was the father of a 13-year-old girl. During their conversation, Pease made plans to meet with the UC and his "daughter" for the purpose of engaging in sexual activities with the child. Pease drove 18 miles to the meeting location but conducted counter-surveillance before fleeing the scene. Law enforcement identified him and later arrested him at his residence.
Pease had previously been convicted of a sex offense in 2008 after sending explicit photographs and traveling to meet someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl. Since then, he has been required to register as a sex offender.
"This predator intentionally singled out a child, devised a plan, and executed it with the sole purpose of harming the most vulnerable in our community,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Orlando Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Pezzutti. “HSI investigators, alongside our partners, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, have successfully removed another predator from the streets.”
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from other agencies including the FBI's Cellular Analysis Survey Team and Polk County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard Varadan and Special Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Del Mastro.