A Jacksonville man, Jerry Alexander Cobb, age 37, has been indicted on charges of using his cellphone and the internet in an attempt to entice a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the indictment, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison if Cobb is convicted. The maximum penalty could be life imprisonment along with a possible lifetime term of supervised release. On August 12, 2025, Cobb was ordered detained while awaiting trial.
Court documents reveal that between July 18 and August 1, 2025, an undercover FBI agent conducted an operation on a social media application to identify adults seeking online contact with minors for sexual purposes. During this period, the agent communicated privately with a user identified as “Jerry.” After the agent stated that “she” was only 13 years old, “Jerry” continued messaging and asked about meeting locations and whether the minor could leave her home at night.
On July 30, “Jerry” proposed meeting in person and suggested renting a hotel room for sexual activity. He also promised to bring a condom. By August 1, Cobb requested explicit photos from the purported minor and arranged to meet later that day in Jacksonville.
Cobb traveled to the agreed location on August 1 where he was arrested by FBI agents.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized that an indictment is not proof of guilt: “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 involved collaboration between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown is prosecuting.
The prosecution falls under Project Safe Childhood—a national Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation by coordinating efforts among federal prosecutors like those at https://www.justice.gov/psc and local law enforcement agencies.
“Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children,” according to information provided by officials.
