A 60-year-old Ocala man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, months after undercover detectives caught him attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.
On Thursday, Scott Alan Colson was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for attempted entice of a minor. Following the prison term, Colson will be required to serve a lifetime of supervised release.
Colson was indicted by a federal grand jury in August of 2024, and he pleaded guilty to the charge six months later.
According to court records, on July 24, 2024, an undercover detective with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office posed as a 15-year-old girl on an online messaging application.
Colson contacted the undercover detective’s account and asked if the fictional 15-year-old girl had ever “been with older men.” He then asked to meet the girl in person.
While messaging the undercover detective’s account, Colson instructed the fictional girl to “keep secrets if we meet up.” He then proceeded to engage in a “sexually explicit conversation” with the undercover detective, and he requested that the minor “make it easy to get down ur pantys.”
The next day, Colson and the undercover detective agreed to meet at a predetermined location in Marion County. Shortly after Colson arrived at that location, he was met by law enforcement officers and placed under arrest.
A cellphone belonging to Colson was examined, and investigators found “child sexual exploitation materials” on the device.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and it was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Nowalk Watson.
In addition, this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May of 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.