Noel Simonca, 48, messaged an undercover detective posing as someone with access to an 11-year-old for sex and offered to “trade” children, the DOJ said.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A child sex predator from Jacksonville is heading to federal prison and could stay there for several years.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that Noel Daniel Simonca, 48, was sentenced to 14 years after attempting to get sexual access to what he thought was an 11-year-old child. He pleaded guilty to the crime in October.
The investigation into Simonca began in December 2024 during an undercover operation aimed at tackling online predators. A detective was posing as someone with access to an 11-year-old, and made a post to a social messaging app. A user by the name of “mdesase,” later identified as Simonca, messaged the detective shortly after.
The DOJ said Simonca told the undercover detective he wanted to see the child and that he had a sexual preference for children “8-13.” He discussed meeting to have a “play date” and to “trade [children].
“Simonca sent UC two non-explicit photos of an actual minor child who has since been identified by the FBI,” the DOJ said in its announcement.
Simonca was arrested by the FBI on Jan. 19, 2025, after driving to a predetermined location to meet the undercover detective and the “child.”
In addition to receiving prison time, Simonca was ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and register as a sex offender.
The investigation also led detectives to another alleged predator, who had sent child sexual abuse material to him previously, according to the release. That person was arrested in February 2025.
The operation was part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which aims to combat “the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.”