A South Florida legal professional who made a nationwide identify for himself representing little one intercourse abuse victims has been arrested for allegedly having hundreds of kid pornography photos stashed on his house pc.
Michael T. Dolce, 53, earned nationwide recognition for his work to finish the statute of limitations for little one sexual battery circumstances within the Sunshine State, and was ultimately named one among America’s 500 Main Attorneys for his work defending little one intercourse abuse victims.
He has spoken out publicly in regards to the abuse he confronted as a 7-year-old boy by the hands of one among his neighbors and has informed how he hopes to ‘spare youngsters the stroll that I’ve needed to take,’ even creating the Shield Our Youngsters First committee.
However Dolce’s popularity has come crumbling down after he was arrested on March 15, when FBI brokers allegedly discovered almost 2,000 photos and 5 little one pornography movies saved on his laptop computer.
He now stays behind bars, awaiting his arraignment scheduled for mid-April. If convicted on little one pornography possession fees, Dolce might resist 20 years in jail.
Michael T. Dolce, 53, was arrested on March 15 on possession of kid pornography fees
FBI brokers discovered almost 2,000 photos and 5 little one pornography movies saved on his laptop computer
Federal authorities had obtained three search warrants to have a look at Dolce’s automobile and residence in West Palm Seashore
Federal authorities executed three search warrants on Dolce’s automobile and residence in West Palm Seashore, Florida on March 15.
‘Entry into the residence occurred because of a forceful breach on the door when Dolce didn’t reply to instructions by regulation enforcement to return to the door,’ a federal criticism says.
‘Tactical surveillance and entry groups revealed that Dolce was alone within the residence, awake on a mattress on the time FBI personnel first knocked and introduced at his door,’ it continued.
When FBI brokers ultimately broke by way of, the criticism says, they discovered a Samsung laptop computer ‘situated instantly adjoining to Dolce on the mattress’ that was ‘actively downloading little one pornography.’
Authorities additionally discovered a number of home windows open on the laptop computer ‘that included or led them to illicit materials.
‘One sub-folder titled “sweetie” featured an addition[al] sub-folder titled “Candy-Pedo Stars,” which featured little one erotica and little one pornography photos of a single prepubescent minor feminine sufferer with the added watermark “PEDO STARs.”‘
A digital forensics crew later reviewed the Samsung laptop computer, and ‘as of three/24/23, FBI personnel had recognized 1,997 photos and 5 movies of kid pornography based mostly upon identified hash values for beforehand recognized little one pornography.’
Federal authorities say Dolce was utilizing a BitTorrent to anonymously obtain the photographs and movies of feminine little one victims estimated to be between 5 to eight years outdated, 6 to 10 years outdated and 9 to 11 years outdated.
Dolce conceded after prosecutors requested a pretrial detention at a listening to on Thursday, Legislation and Crime studies, however reserved the proper to revisit the subject later.
It stays unclear how federal authorities had been in a position to observe Dolce down.
Dolce has spoken publicly about being a sufferer of kid sexual abuse himself, and led efforts to repeal the statute of limitations for intercourse crimes within the state of Florida
Dolce obtained his regulation diploma in 1994 from Stetson College School of Legislation in Gulfport, Florida, in line with his LinkedIn profile, which says he’s ‘a extremely regarded trial lawyer and political activist.’
However he first made a reputation for himself 10 years later, when he got here ahead as a baby intercourse abuse survivor and testified earlier than the Florida Senate Prison Justice Committee in an effort to repeal all statutes of limitation for civil and legal prosecution of kid sexual battery.
He claimed he was molested by a neighbor on the age of seven, and stated that by the point he mustered the braveness to talk out about it, he couldn’t pursue a declare as a result of the statute of limitations had handed.
‘The regulation was defending the predators,’ Dolce recounted in a video after the state legislature voted to repeal the statue of limitations. ‘They had been inspired underneath the regulation to silence their victims, to threaten them.’
In a 2009 interview, Dolce stated he was working to make sure different little one intercourse abuse and grownup intercourse abuse victims might deliver their circumstances in opposition to their abusers, noting: ‘Perpetrators more often than not have a couple of sufferer, and dozens and dozens of sufferer.’
He additionally stated in that video that he had labored contained in the Florida State Legislature for 5 years, however was going through challenges by the Catholic Church to get the statute of limitations eliminated — although he famous that he had been educating Sunday faculty at an area church for 14 years.
In a 2009 interview, Dolce stated he was working to make sure different little one intercourse abuse and grownup intercourse abuse victims might deliver their circumstances in opposition to their abusers
Following his victory, Dolce shaped his personal regulation agency Dolce and Paruas in 2012, and labored there till 2015, when he acquired a place at Cohen Milstead, a big regulation agency with a half-dozen places of work all through the nation.
There, he led the companies Sexual Abuse, Intercourse Trafficking and Home Abuse Group.
A now-deleted profile on the Cohen Milstead web site claims he ‘brings to his work the perception and dedication of a survivor, having himself been the sufferer of sexual abuse as a younger boy by the hands of a sadistic predator.’
It additionally notes that he was included in Lawdragon’s record of 500 Main Attorneys in America, was listed in The Greatest Attorneys in America and obtained the Day by day Enterprise Overview’s 2019 Progressive Follow Areas Award.
Dolce shaped his personal regulation agency Dolce and Paruas in 2012, and labored there till 2015, when he acquired a place at Cohen Milstead
He obtained awards for his work from the Nationwide Middle for Victims of Crime, the Florida Council In opposition to Sexual Violence and the Florida Justice Affiliation; and ‘CNN has relied on him as an knowledgeable for an investigative report into intercourse crime investigations.’
And in his spare time, Dolce was a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, served on the Board of Administrators for the Florida Council In opposition to Sexual Violence from 2011 by way of 2018 and was within the Sexual Violence Focus Group on the Workplace of the Florida State Courts Administrator in 2015.
He even based his personal political committee, entitled Shield Our Youngsters First Inc.
When requested what essentially the most difficult a part of his job was in 2017, Dolce stated it was ‘coping with individuals who do not need to have a look at the reality of what little one abuse survivors actually undergo.
‘It is an unsightly subject that no on desires to even take into consideration,’ he stated in an interview with Day by day Enterprise Overview on the time.
‘Folks fear for their very own youngsters, however they do not need to have a look at the truth of what occurs to a baby — and even adults for that matter.
‘You possibly can’t x-ray these accidents. You possibly can’t scan them on an MRI. However you need to get individuals to know the depth of those accidents.’
He added that his ‘primary hope at all times stays that I’ll have spared youngsters the stroll that I’ve needed to take.
‘I believe we’ll obtain that by persevering with to make establishments safer and persevering with to carry abusers accountable who would in any other case repeat their crimes.’
Throughout his time at Cohen Milstead, Dolce was identified to safe massive settlements for his shoppers, together with a $4.6million deal in 2019 on behalf of an grownup plaintiff who alleged his father sexually abused him all through his childhood.
He was engaged on a case involving a consumer who alleged she was coerced right into a threesome whereas drunk and tripping on magic mushrooms on the time of his arrest, the Miami New Instances studies.
Two weeks in the past, opposing counsel seen that Dolce instantly disappeared from the case, however they didn’t know why till Dolce’s arrest got here to gentle on March 29.
In a press release, executives for Cohen Milstead stated ‘the agency is surprised and saddened by these appalling allegations,’ noting that Dolce has been fired.
‘We’re targeted on attending to the wants of our shoppers and employees, and persevering with to cooperate totally with the investigation.’
In the meantime, congregation leaders at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in West Palm Seashore have reportedly informed Dolce — who served on the church’s governing board — to not attend or take part in church occasions till additional discover, in line with the Palm Seashore Publish.