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Florida AG shares more on recent child predator cases
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier talked about arrests and more charges in some recent child predator cases.
TAMPA - Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is warning sexual predators that law enforcement is coming after them as he discussed a series of recent arrests during a press conference alongside several local law enforcement officials.
Uthmeier highlighted several unrelated cases on Monday morning as he praised the state's dedication to prosecuting accused predators.
What they're saying:
"If you pray on our kids, if you go after our women, if you traffic and abuse, we will come for you with everything we’ve got. It’s our number one priority. And we will shut you down," Uthmeier said.
He announced the arrest of Michael Younce, who is accused of nine counts of possessing child porn, and one count of promotion of a sexual performance of a minor. Younce faces over 60 years in prison if convicted.
Another case was announced last week in St. Pete, and it involves the owner of LALA restaurant and bars in St. Petersburg and Tampa. Lucas Jose Herraiz was charged with 18 counts of possessing child porn, police say.
Courtesy: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
The backstory:
Investigators said Herraiz downloaded multiple videos of child sexual abuse material.
A search warrant found 41 videos that investigators say range from one minute to nearly 36 minutes long.
Prosecutors are also seeking over 100 years of prison time for Marquett James, who was convicted of running a human sex trafficking operation in Florida and other states.
Marquett James appeared in court in a wheelchair after suffering a stroke four years ago.
Statewide prosecutor Rita Peters says James groomed two women and then forced them into sex work in Florida, Atlanta and Las Vegas.
Uthmeier went on to say that this case did not move forward for several years.
"The federal government under the Biden administration had this case for a number of years and chose not to do anything with it. They did not prosecute," he said. "Once the administration changed and the Trump administration came in, HSI reached out to the state, seeking some help, wanting to work together and work together we did."
Investigators also reiterated their plans to seek the death penalty for Nathan Holmberg who preyed on at least five children, between 3-and-10 years old.
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Uthmeier says he believes there's enough evidence in Holmberg's case to seek seven death sentences and more than 2,000 years in prison.
"We want to levy the ultimate form of punishment when it comes to this most heinous offense. Words can not describe the pain that this man has caused for many kids that are out there," Uthmeier said. "We will pray for them, we will treat them, we will help them, but they may never realize a normal life because of what he took away from them."
Investigators say some of the victims in these cases were infants, and they were able to use IP address locations to track down the people responsible for having and sharing the illegal material.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by Attorney General James Uthmeier, other local law enforcement officials and previous FOX 13 news reports.