Marion County Little League Coach Indicted For Attempted Enticement Of A Minor To Engage In Sexual Activity

Ocala, Florida - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Joseph Rocco Quaranta (48, Dunnellon) with attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. If convicted, Quaranta faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. Quaranta is currently detained pending the resolution of his case.

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 and, after learning the minor's age, engaged in a sexually explicit conversation. Quaranta arranged to meet the minor at a predetermined location in Marion County to engage in sexual activity. He arrived at the meeting location and was arrested shortly thereafter by law enforcement. After his arrest, Quaranta told deputies that he was volunteering as a local Little League baseball coach.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

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 will be 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.