Adult Man Pretending to be Teenager Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charges | USAO-SDFL

Miami, Florida – An adult from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida who tricked underage girls into sending them sexually explicit pictures of themselves by, among other things, pretending to be a teenager while chatting online, tried in federal court in West Palm Beach found guilty of producing, distributing and possessing child pornography.

According to court records, as of 2008, Dwight Castaldi, 45, communicated with girls aged 13 through a social networking website. Castaldi told the girls he was a teenager and sent pictures of an unknown young man to the victims, falsely claiming they were pictures of him. During the chats, after promising each girl an exclusive relationship, Castaldi convinced the minors to take sexually explicit pictures of themselves and send them to him. Law enforcement officers issued a search warrant in Castaldi’s home in Palm Beach County in 2018. They found multiple electronic devices with hundreds of videos and photos of child exploitation material and evidence that Castaldi was communicating with others through it.

The hearing to announce the verdict against Castaldi is scheduled for September 20, 2021 before US District Judge Rodney Smith. Castaldi faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years and a maximum of life.

Castaldi recently served a three-year prison sentence in California on various charges of similar enticement of a 13-year-old girl over the Internet.

Acting US attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida and the responsible special agent George L. Piro of the Miami FBI announced the admission of guilt.

The Miami FBI is investigating the case, along with Palm Beach Gardens Police and Huntington Beach, California Police. Deputy US Attorney Gregory Schiller is pursuing the case.

This case was filed under Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide Justice Department initiative launched in May 2006 to tackle the growing epidemic of sexual exploitation and abuse of children. Under the direction of U.S. Attorneys and the Department of Child Exploitation and Obscenity of the Criminal Investigation Department, Project Safe Childhood provides state, state, and local resources to find, arrest, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children and victims identify and save. For more information about the Project Safe Childhood initiative and information on internet safety, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report child sexual exploitation online, use the cyber-tip electronic hotline or call 1-800-843-5678. The Cyber ​​Tip Line is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in collaboration with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

Related court documents and information can be found on the District Court for the Southern District of Florida website at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov on file number 20-cr-80087.

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