Man Found Guilty of Soliciting Minor Child Using a Computer

State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that Paul Ansley Jr., of Jacksonville, was found guilty by a jury of Soliciting a Child via Computer. Ansley now faces up to five years in Florida State Prison. The Honorable Mark Borello will sentence Ansley during a hearing the week of Aug. 16, 2021.

In fall 2018, Ansley employed the victim’s father at his auto body shop. The victim’s father mentioned he hoped to purchase a phone for his daughter to keep in touch with her after school. Ansley then provided a phone to the victim’s father for him to give to the victim. A couple of weeks later, Ansley sent a sexually explicit message to the child victim. The victim gave the phone to her father after she received the message, and Ansley continued to text the phone. The victim’s father pretended to be the victim for a couple of days while the sexually explicit messages continued. The victim’s father then turned the phone over to law enforcement, where the messages were recovered, and Ansley was arrested.

The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Rachel England and Brooke Gasson.