A Louisiana man has been sentenced to life in federal prison, followed by a consecutive 10-year term, for several internet sex crimes involving a minor from Martin County, Florida. Nicolas James Palmisano, 45, of Destrehan, Louisiana, received the sentence on August 25 after being found guilty by a federal jury in May.
Palmisano was convicted of attempted enticement of a minor, attempted production and receipt of visual depictions involving sexual exploitation of a minor, transfer of obscene material to a minor, and committing an offense as a registered sex offender. In addition to his prison sentence, he must serve 20 years of supervised release and pay restitution.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Palmisano had previously been convicted in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana in 2019 for sexual offenses involving a juvenile. After serving four years in prison for that conviction, he registered as a sex offender with the local sheriff’s office.
In May 2024, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office discovered that a minor possessed sexually explicit images on her phone. A forensic examination recovered messages and media sent from Palmisano’s phone number. Investigators determined that between February and May 2024—despite knowing the victim was only 15—Palmisano sent thousands of sexually explicit messages along with multiple images and recordings of himself. He also solicited and obtained sexually explicit images from the minor.
Law enforcement arrested Palmisano in August 2024 at the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office during his annual sex offender registration review. Authorities searched his residence and recovered his cell phone containing the exchanged material.
The case was investigated by FBI Fort Pierce with assistance from Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), FBI New Orleans, and St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution was handled by Fort Pierce Branch Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Lineberger and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Kahn Obenauf.
“This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse,” according to information provided by officials involved in the prosecution effort. “Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.”
For more details about Project Safe Childhood visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Reports regarding online child sexual exploitation can be made through https://report.cybertip.org/ or by calling 1-800-843-5678; this Cyber Tip Line is managed by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) together with law enforcement partners such as Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Additional court documents related to this case are available on the District Court for the Southern District of Florida website at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 24-cr-14044.
