Former St. Augustine Eighth Grade Teacher Sentenced To 15 Years In Federal Prison For Attempting To Entice And Use A 14-Year-Old Child To Produce A Sexual Abuse Video
Jacksonville, Florida / Thursday, January 8, 2026 – Senior United States District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Matthew Christopher Yates (31, Hastings) to 15 years in federal prison for attempting to entice and use a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video of her own sexual abuse. Yates was also ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender. Yates pleaded guilty on August 27, 2025. At the time of his arrest on March 11, 2022, Yates was employed as an eighth-grade teacher at a school in St. Augustine.
According to court documents, on February 11, 2022, an undercover FBI agent in Jacksonville, who was posing online as a 14-year-old child, responded to an online notice on a social media application posted by the user “English teacher,” who was subsequently identified as Yates. The notice read, “Any women want to be rated by a teacher?” During this online text conversation, the “child” advised that “she” was 14 years old and in eighth grade, and Yates stated that he was a teacher, asking the “child,” “[e]ver fantasize about a teacher?” Yates and the “child” exchanged photos, and Yates stated, “I bet you look hot in a bikini.”
Between February 22 and March 11, 2022, Yates and the “child” exchanged more text messages, and Yates sent the “child” several photos, including some that were sexually explicit. On March 8, 2022, Yates asked the “child” to meet in person, and he detailed the specific sexual acts that he intended to perform on the “child” when they met.
Two days later, Yates and the “child” confirmed plans to meet, and Yates asked the “child” if “she” wanted to video-record their planned sexual activity so that the “child” “could remember it even better.” Yates told the “child” that he could use his cellphone to record their sexual activity and that he would later delete the video so that no one would see it.
On March 11, 2022, Yates drove to a prearranged location in Jacksonville to meet the “child” for sex and was arrested by FBI agents. A search revealed that Yates had brought several condoms and a cellphone with him. During an interview, Yates admitted that he was going to meet a 14-year-old girl that he had met online and that he intended to have sex with “her.” When asked if he going to have sex with the 14-year-old girl and record it on video, Yates stated, “I said if that’s what she wanted, that we could,” and “I did just want to leave it up to her.” He admitted that it was his idea to make a video of his sexual encounter with the “child.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Jacksonville. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States 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, rescue, and seek justice for child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida
