Gainesville man sentenced to 5 years in prison for sending explicit photos to a 15-year-old girl

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Brendan Daniel Dinkins, 28, has been sentenced to five years in state prison, followed by five years of sexual offender probation, after entering a plea of nolo contendere to 10 counts of sending explicit photos to a minor.

Dinkins was originally arrested on July 31, 2025, after the victim told a Gainesville Police Department officer that she had been communicating with Dinkins since the summer of 2024; she said Dinkins requested nude images of her, sent her nude photos of his genitals, and asked her almost daily to meet him for sex, although she said she never did. When the officer asked why she had come forward after this had gone on for such a long period of time, she said Dinkins had blocked her on Snapchat and she was afraid he had nude images of her that he might share with others.

On July 31, a detective went to Dinkins’s house, and Dinkins agreed to speak with him. Dinkins reportedly said he “recalled the situation” with the victim but did not “leak” or “expose” her in any way. He reportedly admitted previously having partially nude images of the victim but said he no longer had them.

Dinkins consented to a search of his cell phone, and a detective found 19 sexually explicit images/videos that had been sent to the victim via Snapchat, going back to September 2024. Dinkins reportedly acknowledged that he had exchanged sexually graphic content with the victim for most of the time they had been communicating.

Dinkins was originally charged with 19 counts of transmission of harmful material to a minor and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communications device, and prosecutors later amended the charges to 15 counts of transmission of material harmful to a minor and three counts of transmitting obscene material to a minor out of state.

On June 8, Dinkins entered a plea of nolo contendere to 10 counts of transmission of material harmful to minors to a minor with an electronic device, and the other charges were dropped as part of the deal.

Judge Susan Wilson Bullard sentenced him to five years in state prison with credit for 314 days served, followed by five years of sexual offender probation; he will also be registered as a sexual offender.