A former U.S. Navy airman apprentice from Jacksonville was sentenced Tuesday to 19 years and seven months in federal prison for attempting to have sex with two teens, according to a news release from the State Attorney's Office.
Erold Martin Panopio, 25, pleaded guilty back in April to trying to entice a 15-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl into having sex with him, the news release says.
Back in October 2018, law enforcement learned Panopio was communicating online with a 15-year-old girl in a sexual manner, according to court records. A forensic analysis of the girl's phone revealed Panopio had filmed himself having sex with two 15-year-old girls earlier that month.
An undercover agent with Homeland Security Investigations then began speaking to Panopio online, posing as one of the girls. Court records say Panopio, not realizing he was speaking to an agent, told the agent all of the sexual acts he wanted to do with the teen and her 13-year-old friend.
The State Attorney's Office says Panopio traveled from his Jacksonville home to Clay County to have sex with the teens and was arrested upon arrival.
Panopio admitted during an interview with law enforcement that he traveled to Clay County to have sex with the teens and he admitted to previously having sex with a 15-year-old, according to the State Attorney's Office.
Chats from July and August 2018 revealed Panopio also had sex with another 15-year-old, whom he repeatedly demanded nude photos of. He also threatened to go to the child's home and threatened to tell her parents if she did not have sex with him again or send nude photos.