Lakewood Ranch man sentenced in federal child exploitation case, prosecutors say
A Lakewood Ranch man who prosecutors say used a computer and online apps to engage in sexually explicit conversations with a minor will spend years in federal prison.
A federal judge sentenced Pete Supan, a 36-year-old physician who practiced medicine on adult patients in Sarasota, to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor and production of child sexual abuse material, according to court records.
Court records also show the sentence includes 10 years of supervised release.
Federal prosecutors said Supan knowingly communicated online with a minor while posing as a 19-year-old, leading to sexually explicit images of the victim.
Lakewood Ranch doctor sentenced to prison
The case began in October 2024, when detectives with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit received a cyber tip about suspicious chats on the social media platform Reddit involving an adult in Manatee County and a minor in Utah, deputies previously said.
Investigators said Supan solicited nude images from a 14-year-old girl and described sex acts he would perform on the minor. Deputies also said Supan sent the girl explicit photos of himself.
Through the investigation, authorities later identified Supan as a medical doctor practicing internal medicine on adult patients in Sarasota, according to the sheriff’s office.
When detectives executed a search warrant at Supan’s Lakewood Ranch home, investigators said he admitted to communicating with the girl and requesting explicit images. Supan also admitted to knowing she was a minor at the time, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
FBI investigated online child exploitation
Once investigators located the victim out of the state, they said they learned officials in Utah had already opened an investigation and gathered sufficient evidence to bring the case to federal court, the sheriff’s office previously said.
The sheriff’s office said they coordinated with the FBI and the U.S. State Attorney’s Office to formally charge Supan, who was arrested in Sarasota and later transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in Tampa.
Detectives said at the time that they’d seized multiple electronic devices from Supan’s home and confirmed he had no direct access to children through his medical practice and did not travel to meet any minors.
Federal officials said the case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national Justice Department initiative aimed at combating the sexual exploitation of children.
