ORLANDO, Fla. — A 47-year-old registered sex offender faces state and federal punishments after he was caught in an undercover sting in Orlando, records show.
- Vince Edward Lasane facing state and federal punishments
- Lasane is on probation for attempted sex attack from 2006
- State officials want Lasane probation revoked, back in prison
Vince Edward Lasane is on probation for an attempted sex attack on a child in Orange County in 2006.
In the most recent case, Lasane used social media to set up a meeting with a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl outside of an undisclosed restaurant in downtown Orlando last month, federal prosecutors allege.
Lasane, who was actually chatting online with an undercover federal agent, was arrested after rolling up on a bicycle to the meeting location October 26, records show.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida charged him with attempted coercion or enticement of minor, a crime punishable by as much as 15 years in prison.
The arrest violated his probation with Florida for the September 2006 attempted child-sex attack in Orange County.
In that case, Lasane entered a no-contest plea to a charge of attempted sexual battery by an adult on a victim less than 12 years old on June 1, 2007.
He was sentenced to 10 years in state prison and labeled a sex predator.
He was released from prison on March 18, 2015. Lasane participates in sex-offender therapy and he works in construction, records say.
His probation was scheduled to end March 1, 2025 before his most recent arrest.
State officials now want his probation revoked and Lasane returned to state prison.
“This offender is a sexual predator and has committed new law violations that are sexual in nature,” state probation officials wrote in a court filing. “Mr. Lasane should be incarcerated as his actions does pose a threat to the public.”
Lasane began chatting with the undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old girl on September 29.
“Hello,” Lasane wrote. “[W]hat are you looking for on here.”
The “girl” said she was interested in meeting people, and she expressed frustration about being so young.
“So you like older guys,” Lasane responded. “Are you freaky?”
At several points, Lasane expressed concerns about a police setup.
“I’m 47. It’s not like I don’t want to see you or meet you ok,” Lasane said. “But you know, I’ve got to be careful and cautious about the way I do things” because it could be a police investigation.
If anyone asked her age, she should tell them she was 18, Lasane said.
Eventually, Lasane arranged to meet her at noon October 26.
He directed her to use a special move to identify herself: He would grab one of her private parts and she would grab his. That way, he said, she would know he was not a police officer.
He was arrested when he showed up to meet the “girl.”
He is being held in the Orange County Jail.