Mexican National Sentenced To 20 Years in Federal Prison for Attempting to Meet a 13-Year-Old to Engage in Sexual Activity

Ocala, Florida - Cain Matias Godinez (42, Mexico) has been sentenced by United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber to 20 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, for attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. A federal jury found Matias Godinez guilty on March 5, 2026. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in May 2025, the Ocala Police Department hosted an undercover operation aimed at apprehending individuals using the internet to exploit children. During the operation, a detective from the Marion County Sheriff's Office (UC) posed online as a 13-year-old prostitute. Matias Godinez messaged the UC and, after learning the UC's age, engaged in a sexually explicit conversation. During the conversation, Matias Godinez described the sexual activity in which he wanted to engage and discussed ways to ensure that he and the UC would not get caught. On May 27, 2025, Matias Godinez traveled from Gainesville to Marion County to meet the UC to engage in sexual activity. Matias Godinez was arrested by the Marion County Sheriff's Office when he arrived at the meeting location.

This case was investigated by the Ocala Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff's Office, and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.

This 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.