South Florida Man Sentenced To 25 Years On Federal Child Pornography Charges

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Federal authorities said a Palm Beach Gardens man, who pretended to be a teen to entice underage girls to send him sexually explicit photos, has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.

Officials say that beginning in 2008, Dwight Castaldi, 45, communicated with at least six underage girls, as young as 13, on social networking sites.

Castaldi told girls he was a teenager and sent the victims pictures of an unknown young man, falsely claiming they were pictures of him.

Prosecutors said Castaldi told the minors that they were in exclusive relationships with him and convinced the minors to take sexually explicit pictures of themselves and send the images to him.

In 2018, police executed a search warrant and found several electronic devices containing hundreds of videos and photographs of child exploitation material and evidence of Castaldi communicating with others about the illegal material.

Authorities said Castaldi had previously pled guilty to production, distribution, and possession of child pornography, and online enticement of minors.

Child sexual exploitation can be reported by calling 1-800-843-5678.