Little League Coach Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Meet A 13 Year Old Child To Engage In Sexual Activity

Ocala, Florida - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Joseph Rocco Quaranta (48, Dunnellon) has pleaded guilty to attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Quaranta faces a minimum penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, on July 25, 2024, an undercover detective from the Marion County Sheriff's Office posed online as a 13-year-old girl. Quaranta contacted the undercover detective's account and, after learning the child's age, engaged in a sexually explicit conversation. Quaranta then arranged to meet the child at a predetermined location in Marion County to engage in sexual activity. He arrived at the meeting location and was arrested by law enforcement. After his arrest, Quaranta admitted to deputies that he had been volunteering as a local Little League baseball coach.

This case was investigated by the Marion County Sheriff's Office, the Ocala Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Chiefland Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.

The 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 the United States Attorney's 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, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.