Today, August 12, 2021, U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza sentenced Michael Craig Gorycki (51, Titusville) to 13 years and 4 months in federal prison for attempted enticement of a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. Gorycki was also ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and register as a sex offender.
Gorycki was found guilty on May 27, 2021, following a jury trial. According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in August 2020, Gorycki engaged in online chats with an undercover Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) task force agent who was posing as the father of a 13-year-old girl. During the conversation, Gorycki expressed interest in meeting the father in order to gain access to and sexually assault his minor daughter. Gorycki expressed in detail his intention to rape the child and teach her to perform a specific sexual act. Gorycki was arrested when he traveled to meet the father at a prearranged meeting place in Titusville so that he could have sex with the child. “Thanks to HSI special agents and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, this child predator will now spend more than 13 years in prison for his crimes,” said HSI Orlando Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Pezzutti. “Taking child predators off the streets has a direct effect in making our communities safer for everyone.” This case was investigated by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Emily C. L. Chang and John M. Gardella. This case was 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. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.