Florida man who allegedly used social app to find, entice minors, pleads guilty

FLORIDA – A Wesley Chapel man has pleaded guilty to exploiting minors and producing child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

Clayton Everett Colborn, 31, of Wesley Chapel, pleaded guilty to two counts of enticement and coercion of a minor to engage in sexual activity, five counts of using minors to produce child sexual abuse images and videos, and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material. United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg made the announcement.

Colborn faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, and up to life, in federal prison and mandatory court-ordered restitution. He has agreed to forfeit electronic devices and his black Chevrolet Corvette, which were used in the commission of the offense, said the USAO. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

According to court documents, between 2018 and continuing through 2020, Colborn used a social networking application to find minors for the purpose of engaging in sex acts. Colborn, who was between the ages of 27 and 28 at the time of his offenses, created a fictitious profile named “Jason Rich” and indicated that he was 16 years old.

The social networking application is designed to help people make friendships and has two distinct age groups based on a user’s profile: ages 13 to 17 years old and ages 18 years and older. Using the fictitious profile, Colborn met the victims in the younger age group, said the USAO.

According to prosecutors, he told the victims he was 16 years old and enticed them into sexual intercourse at various locations throughout the Middle District of Florida, including his car, apartment, and victims’ residences. In one instance, the Ocoee Police Department said it caught Colborn in a public park in the middle of the night with a child victim. Colborn’s pants were reportedly unzipped at the time officers chased and apprehended him in the park.

Law enforcement officers obtained DNA evidence which showed that Colborn had engaged in sexual activity with the child victim, the USAO said.

To date, the FBI has identified and interviewed seven child victims who all resided within the Middle District of Florida. Colborn similarly victimized each child victim, said the USAO.

During the investigation, the FBI obtained a federal search warrant for Colborn’s iCloud account and said it found approximately 30 videos and 81 images that Colborn had produced of himself engaging in sexual acts with various young girls between the ages of 13 and 17 years old.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ocoee Police Department, and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Lisa M. Thelwell is prosecuting it.

Anyone with information regarding Clayton Everett Colborn, also known as “Jason Rich,” “Jason,” “Clay,” or “Clayay” should call ‪1-800-CALL-FBI (1-‪800-225-5324) or submit online at tips.fbi.gov.

According to the DOJ, this is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.