ORLANDO, Fla. – A district judge sentenced a Cocoa man to 27 years in prison on Thursday after authorities accused the man of having sex with a minor and recording video of the act on his iPhone.
Phillip Beyel, 28, pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting a minor for sex and child pornography on Sept. 25, 2012 after the Homeland Security Investigations office found videos and photographs on Beyel's iPhone of him having sex with the minor in a hotel room on Dec. 31, 2011.
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Officials say Beyel called the minor the next day, who said she might have to go to a doctor. Beyel told her not to reveal that her injury was caused by their sexual encounter.
"Child exploitation is one of the most heinous crimes we investigate, and I assure you, we will make sure these predators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Susan McCormick, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Tampa, which oversees the agency's Cocoa Beach office that investigated this case.