A 51-year-old man who traveled to a Winn-Dixie in Ocala to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex has pleaded guilty to a federal charge.
On Monday, September 9, U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Joseph Raymond Morin has pleaded guilty to enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.
According to the plea agreement, on May 3, 2024, a man with the username of “Mike Hunt” began communicating with a Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) agent who was posing on a social media application as a 13-year-old girl.
The man was later identified as Morin.
The arrest report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office stated that Morin told the decoy that he is “30 years old” and lives in Marion County. The decoy responded by stating that she was 13 and had recently moved from Arizona to the Marion Oaks area.
In numerous messages on social media, Morin allegedly described sex acts to the decoy. After the decoy reiterated that she was 13 years old, Morin told her that “age is just a number.” He then suggested that they meet the following week for “lunch or something similar” at the Winn-Dixie plaza located on Marion Oaks Boulevard, according to the report.
For a two-week period, from May 6 through May 20, 2024, communications between Morin and the decoy ceased. The report stated that “communications (were) sporadic and not reciprocated between the two of them again” until June 3, 2024.
Morin suggested again that the decoy could meet him for lunch near Winn-Dixie. He then messaged her regarding several sex acts, including an explicit description of oral sex. The report stated that Morin told the decoy that if she was “five years older,” he would “teach her some things.”
According to the report, Morin stated in the messages to the decoy that he was “erect” and “rubbing his penis” while communicating with her.
While these communications were continuing, Morin allegedly created another profile on the same social media application and began communicating with the same decoy. Law enforcement soon realized that the second profile belonged to Morin.
The report stated that while using the second profile, Morin told the decoy that he wanted to “eat her sweet little (expletive),” and “make her (expletive) for him.” After sending the decoy a link to a Facebook profile with photos of himself, the decoy agreed to meet him at the Winn-Dixie supermarket located at 184 Marion Oaks Boulevard.
On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, MCSO detectives observed Morin’s pickup truck pull into a parking space in front of a Dollar General store located near the Winn-Dixie supermarket. Detectives made contact with him and detained him in handcuffs.
During an interview with detectives, Morin admitted to traveling from Citrus County to Winn-Dixie in order to meet a 13-year-old girl. He further confirmed that he had communicated with the decoy posing as the teen girl on his phone, which he is the sole user of, according to the report.
Morin also told the detectives that he spoke with the decoy about performing oral sex on her, and he had “planned to do so” inside his vehicle in the parking lot of the Dollar General store.
Morin was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail, where he is currently being held as he awaits sentencing.
Court records show that a sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. Morin is facing a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.
In the months since Morin’s arrest, the Winn-Dixie store at 184 Marion Oaks Boulevard has begun the transition of converting into an ALDI.