Jacksonville Man Indicted For Attempting To Entice And Meet An 11-Year-Old Child To Engage In Sexual Activity

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Noel Daniel Simonca (47, Jacksonville) with attempting to entice a minor child to engage in sexual activity. If convicted, Simonca faces a minimum penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison and a potential lifetime term of supervised release. Simonca was arrested on January 19, 2025. 

According to court documents, on December 10, 2024, an undercover FBI agent (UC) in Jacksonville was conducting an online undercover operation to identify adult individuals who were seeking to make contact with and engage in sexual activity with children. Posing as the parent of an 11-year-old child, the UC posted a short message in a public chatroom of a particular online social messaging app. A short time later, an individual using the app name “mdesase” contacted the UC using a private text messaging feature of the app. User “mdesase” confirmed that he would “love to see [the 11-year-old child],” and indicated that he had a preference for children aged “8-13.” On December 11, 2024, the UC and user “mdesase,” who was subsequently identified as Simonca, discussed meeting to have a “play date” and “trade [daughters].”

Between December 12, 2024, and January 19, 2025, there were more online text conversations between the UC and Simonca during which they discussed meeting in person. On December 26, 2024, Simonca texted the UC and described the sexual activity that he intended to engage in with UC’s “child.” Simonca and the UC ultimately agreed to meet at a specific location in Jacksonville Beach so that Simonca could meet the “child” and take photos of “her.” On the afternoon of January 19, 2025, Simonca drove to the agreed meeting location where he was arrested by FBI agents.  

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.   

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 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 child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.