Latest news with #MichaelGordonDouglas
Miami Herald
24-05-2025
- Miami Herald
‘Stowaway' sentenced over hiding in Delta flight bathroom & 5 more legal cases
The summaries below were drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists. Thousands of legal cases reach U.S. courts every year. From accusations of mistreatment in prisons to fraud to sexual abuse and beyond, here are some of the latest from across the country. Veteran faked military awards for government job, feds say. He gets prison in FL In Jacksonville, Florida, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran was sentenced to three months in prison over making false statements to a federal agency, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida. Prosecutors say he fabricated military accolades, including a prestigious combat medal, to secure a government intelligence job and claim disability benefits. The man, who pleaded guilty, also received three years of supervised release and a $2,500 fine, according to prosecutors. | Published May 16 | Read More Man planned Halloween 'sex party' to abuse child, feds say. He's convicted in FL In West Palm Beach, Florida, Michael Gordon Douglas, a 48-year-old from Escondido, California, was convicted of distributing child sexual abuse material and attempting to entice a minor for sexual activity, according to federal prosecutors. Douglas, a repeat sex offender, was caught planning a Halloween 'sex party' involving a child, which led to a standoff with a SWAT team, prosecutors say. He faces a minimum of 15 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. | Published May 19 | Read More Deputy, dad of 4, died after explosion at CA shooting range. Now, family sues In California, the family of Alfredo 'Freddy' Flores, who was a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, filed a wrongful death lawsuit after he died from burns sustained in an explosion at a mobile shooting range. The lawsuit accuses Los Angeles County, the sheriff's department and the range's manufacturer of negligence, citing unsafe conditions that led to the fire. The family seeks accountability and aims to prevent future tragedies. | Published May 20 | Read More 'Stowaway' hid in bathroom of Delta flight, feds say. Now, Texas man sentenced In Utah, a Texas man was sentenced to six months of time served for attempting to fly to Austin from Salt Lake City without a boarding pass by hiding in a Delta Air Lines plane bathroom, federal prosecutors say. The man, who pleaded guilty, was caught after the flight crew noticed him, according to court documents. He was fined $5,000 and also sentenced to three years of supervised release, prosecutors say. | Published May 21 | Read More Girls confined to 'box' if they fought sex abuse at FL youth center, suit says In Santa Rosa County, Florida, a lawsuit filed by five women says they were subjected to sexual abuse and harsh punishment at the now-closed Milton Girls Juvenile Residential Facility. The lawsuit accuses staff of confining girls who resisted abuse to a small, cement room known as the 'box.' The suit seeks justice for the survivors and aims to expose systemic failures in the juvenile justice system. | Published May 22 | Read More 'Fisherman frustrated with dolphins shot and poisoned them in Florida, feds say' In Florida, Zackery Brandon Barfield, a Panama City commercial fisherman, was sentenced to 30 days in prison over shooting and poisoning bottlenose dolphins, according to federal prosecutors. Barfield, frustrated with dolphins eating snapper caught by his clients, used a toxic pesticide to poison the dolphins and shot them during fishing trips, including in front of children, prosecutors say. He was fined $51,000 and sentenced to one year of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida. | Published May 23 | Read More McClatchy News continues to follow lawsuits and legal cases from around the country. Check back for more legal stories.
Miami Herald
19-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Man planned Halloween ‘sex party' to abuse child, feds say. He's convicted in FL
A California man known as a 'repeat sex offender' tried setting up a Halloween 'sex party' involving drug use to sexually abuse a child, federal prosecutors said. Then came a standoff with a SWAT team, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. Now, a South Florida jury has convicted Michael Gordon Douglas, 48, of Escondido, in San Diego County, of seven counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material and one count of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, the office said in a May 16 news release. During the five-day trial, prosecutors told the jury at the West Palm Beach federal courthouse that the charges against Douglas stem from when South Florida law enforcement became aware of his online activities in a 'chat room focused on incest and other sexual taboo.' Federal public defenders appointed to represent Douglas didn't immediately return McClatchy News' request for comment May 19. In October 2023, Douglas began messaging who he 'believed was the mother of an eight-year-old girl,' according to prosecutors. Unaware that he was actually communicating with an undercover agent on the online platform Kik, Douglas expressed interest in sexually abusing the child he believed was real, court documents say. He told the undercover agent that he's repeatedly sexually abused his own daughter, according to charging documents written by a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations. When the undercover agent, posing as the decoy mother, mentioned they lived in Florida, Douglas said he 'has family in Tampa and Ocala, and that he 'spent some time in Miami & Coral Gables,'' the HSI agent wrote. Douglas then mentioned having attended the University of Miami, according to court documents. 'During months of chats, Douglas bragged about his sexual experiences with children and posted dozens of sexually explicit photos and videos,' prosecutors said. Douglas also shared content of child sexual abuse in group chats, according to court filings. In one of these group chats that he created and added the undercover agent to, Douglas advertised 'a sex party that would include minors' and asked if anyone was interested in participating, court documents say. There were several Kik users in the group chat, according to court documents. According to prosecutors, while Douglas communicated with the agent, believing they were the mother of the fake 8-year-old, Douglas 'repeatedly instructed' how 'to gradually sexualize (the) child so that she would be ready, willing, and able to have sex with him.' 'He offered to take the child's virginity 'in front of a meth-fueled orgy,'' referring to the Halloween sex party he was trying to coordinate, prosecutors said. The SWAT team response The day Douglas had planned to meet the child, he was driving with a woman as a passenger, according to prosecutors. When he noticed law enforcement nearby, he 'erratically drove away,' leading federal agents to pursue and stop his car, prosecutors said. The woman got out of the car and screamed, according to prosecutors, that Douglas had 'a grenade' and that 'he's going to kill us!' Douglas took a pin out of what prosecutors said was a replica grenade, causing a standoff with the SWAT team before he surrendered and was taken into custody. In his car, he was found to have 'sex toys, personal lubricant, extra-small lingerie, a small speculum, and a unicorn stuffed animal,' prosecutors said. It's unclear where the encounter with the SWAT team occurred. McClatchy News contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office for more information. Criminal history Douglas was previously convicted of possession and distribution of child pornography and attempting to send child pornography to a minor in 2011 in San Diego County, according to a report from The Coast News Group. He was implicated in the case because, according to court documents, he was messaging a detective posing as a teenage girl. In that case, Douglas was sentenced to five years of probation and had his 2-year prison sentence stayed, court documents say. He was ordered to register in California as a sex offender. In June 2021, a judge later ordered him to be removed from the state sex offender registry, believing he was 'properly rehabilitated,' court documents say. While messaging the undercover agent, Douglas said he worked as a wildland firefighter in California and shared multiple photos of wildfires, as well as an image of a firetruck with the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection's logo, according to court documents. The HSI agent wrote in charging documents that they found no evidence of Douglas working for CAL FIRE. 'However, CAL FIRE does have an inmate program which Douglas may have participated in while incarcerated,' the agent wrote. Douglas' sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 25 in West Palm Beach, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He's facing at least 15 years in federal prison and up to life in prison, prosecutors said. HSI Miami and HSI San Diego collaborated in investigating him, according to prosecutors. Concerns or suspicions about child sexual exploitation can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline online or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
