Sex offender wanted sex with a 14-year-old. He’ll be 60 before he gets out of prison.
Over 12 days in March 2018, Hallandale Beach registered sex offender Peter Bobal pursued a 14-year-old by sending her 56 requests for pictures of her breasts and genitalia and 70 pleas to hook up for some fondling.
Bobal, now 43, didn’t know his actions were filling his schedule for the next two decades. He didn’t know because he didn’t know that he was texting an undercover FBI agent.
Friday, Bobal was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for enticement of a minor and committing a felony involving a minor while being a registered sex offender. His sentence, of which he must serve at least 17 years, is the mandatory minimum for this pair of crimes. He was convicted in July.
This won’t be the first time Bobal’s inability to control himself put him under control of a corrections system. He did six months in county jail and five years probation after pleading no contest in 2005 to using a computer to solicit a child for sex or lewdness.
Almost a year ago, on Feb. 22, 2018, Bobal sent a penis picture to a 14-year-old girl. That text message got taken to the FBI and an agent from the Miami office’s Child Exploitation Task Force slipped into the role of the 14-year-old. The agent reestablished contact with Bobal on March 2.
By March 14, Bobal had made the aforementioned requests and pleas. The agent agreed to meet Bobal. They arrested him after he texted a description of his attire.
This story was originally published February 20, 2019 at 8:21 PM.
