JACKSONVILLE – A former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Detective was sentenced to 24 years and three months after he pleaded guilty to enticing a girl to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

Josue Garriga III, 34, of St. Augustine, was arrested by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office after Garriga met with the 17-year-old girl in her neighborhood and at a coffee shop to engage in sexual activity.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, court documents show Garriga and the child met at church and developed a relationship that turned sexual until approximately March 7, 2024. Records also showed he requested nude photos of the child, and he sent similar photos of himself. They chatted on FaceTime more than 120 times and CCSO detectives said it uncovered more than 300 interactions between the two either by phone, texting or the internet.

This case was investigated by the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force, to include Homeland Security Investigations Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura Cofer Taylor and Kelly S. Milliron.

The case was 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 the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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, visit justice.gov/psc.