A Florida lawyer known for his award-winning advocacy for child sex abuse victims was arrested by the FBI while allegedly actively downloading child pornography; hundreds of images were found on a laptop with victims believed as young as five.
(Video: WPBF)
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida issued a press release detailing the execution of an arrest warrant against 53-year-old attorney Michael T. Dolce on March 15.
As explained, “According to the filed criminal complaint affidavit, on March 15, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Dolce’s West Palm Beach apartment. They discovered Dolce actively downloading child pornography using peer-2-peer software. Nearly 2000 images and videos of child pornography were recovered from his devices.”
That complaint detailed, “Entry into the residence occurred as a result of a forceful breach on the door when Dolce did not respond to commands by law enforcement to come to the door.”
“Tactical surveillance and entry teams revealed that Dolce was alone in the residence, awake on a bed at the time FBI personnel first knocked and announced at his door,” with the laptop beside him allegedly downloading more images. An ongoing investigation of the computer’s hard drive found the images and videos to include victims estimated between the ages of five- and 11 years old.
“One sub-folder titled ‘sweetie’ featured an addition[al] sub-folder titled ‘Sweet-Pedo Stars,’ which featured child erotica and child pornography images of a single prepubescent minor female victim with the added watermark ‘PEDO STARs,'” Law & Crime highlighted.
Dolce himself had repeatedly testified that he had been molested when he was about seven years old in both interviews with WPBF and when presenting to the Florida Senate Criminal Justice Committee while advocating for the repeal of all statutes of limitations in child sexual battery cases.
His efforts led him to be named one of America’s 500 Leading Lawyers and garnered him awards from the Florida Justice Association, the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, and the National Center for Victims of Crime, according to the Daily Mail.
What’s more, having founded Protect Our Kids First Inc., Dolce had served on the Board of Directors for the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence from 2011-2018 and, according to The Palm Beach Post, currently resides on the governing board of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach.
Aimee Adler Cooke, a spokesperson for the church, told the outlet that the lawyer had been instructed not to attend church events until further notice.
The allegations brought similar results from his law firm Cohen Milstead, which released a statement that read, “The firm is stunned and saddened by these appalling allegations. Michael Dolce was terminated and is no longer affiliated with the firm. We are focused on attending to the needs of our clients and staff, and continuing to cooperate fully with the investigation.”
The Justice Department noted that the case was “part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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