Florida man convicted of meeting two 15-year-old girls in Palm Beach, Broward County

MIAMI, Fla. (CBS12) – An Opa-locka man pleaded guilty to traveling to have sex with two underage girls and was sentenced in federal district court.

Malik Hosea Atkinson, 25, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, followed by life supervised release on May 24.

Atkinson, also known online as “@jpmon8”, “@Mall9488673” and “unknown_value#5861”, admitted in 2022 and 2023 to meeting two teenage girls online in a social media app. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Atkinson convinced the two girls to meet him.

Atkinson drove from Miami-Dade County to Palm Beach and Broward counties to have sex with the two victims on separate occasions in his white van, a DOJ statement said.

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Investigators found text messages on Atkinson's phone that corroborated the sexual encounters and a video of him sexually exploiting minors.

The investigation revealed that Atkinson also communicated online with other minors.

Atkinson's conviction was part of the DOJ's Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative that aims to prevent the exploitation and abuse of children.