A 21-year-old Tampa man already sitting in the Hillsborough County Jail on unrelated charges is now facing 11 additional felony counts stemming from a sexual battery investigation that began involving a teenage victim last November. Sergio Hollis was booked on August 7 and detectives learned he was in custody on August 13, prompting them to file the new charges tied to a months-long inquiry into how he allegedly met and exploited the teen.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, detectives opened the investigation on November 16, 2025, after learning Hollis had met the victim on social media. Investigators say he sent inappropriate images to the teen and engaged in inappropriate physical contact with her. HCSO's account of the case notes that Hollis was 20 years old when the investigation began, though an attached booking transcript lists his age as 21.
The charges filed against Hollis are extensive: three counts of lewd and lascivious battery, one count of promotion of sexual performance by a child, one count of in-state transmission of child sexual abuse material by electronic device, five counts of possession of child sexual abuse material with intent to promote, one count of unlawful use of a two-way communications device, and one count of traveling to meet a minor after using computer services or devices to solicit certain illegal acts.
What Each Charge Could Mean in Court
The lewd and lascivious battery counts alone carry significant weight. Under Florida Statute § 800.04(4), each count is classified as a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, 15 years of probation, and mandatory sex offender registration, according to Leppard Law. Under Florida law, minors under 16 are legally incapable of giving sexual consent, which underpins the statute's framework.
The traveling-to-meet-a-minor charge similarly qualifies as a second-degree felony under Florida Statute § 847.0135(4), carrying up to 15 years in state prison, up to $10,000 in fines, and mandatory sex offender registration, per the Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney Blog. That statute applies even when law enforcement officers pose as minors or no physical contact occurs, requiring only proof of intent and travel.
The five counts of possession of child sexual abuse material with intent to promote reflect a separate legal principle: under Florida Statute § 827.071, each individual image or video file depicting child sexual abuse constitutes its own felony count, carrying up to five years in prison per file, as Hoodline has previously reported. That framework is why digital evidence in cases like this can compound quickly into a large number of distinct criminal charges, and why possessing 10 or more images can trigger additional statutory penalty reclassifications under Florida law.
Hollis's unlawful use of a two-way communications device charge stems from Florida Statute § 934.215, which makes using a cell phone or computer to facilitate a felony an independent third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to Meltzer & Bell, P.A. That charge is routinely stacked on top of underlying felony counts such as solicitation or CSAM transmission, though Florida appellate courts have not always upheld every combination. In the 2014 case Exantus v. State, Florida's Second District Court of Appeal vacated separate convictions for unlawful communication device use and receiving minor information when paired with a traveling-to-meet-a-minor charge arising from a single episode, ruling the stacked convictions violated double jeopardy protections.
A Prior Arrest as a Juvenile in Polk County
Hollis has a criminal history predating the current case. In September 2023, Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested a then-17-year-old Sergio Hollis of Bartow alongside three other teenagers following 15 vehicle burglaries across Lakeland and Mulberry apartment complexes, during which a firearm was stolen, according to LkldNow. That case involved a multi-agency gang task force tracking juvenile cross-county auto burglaries at the time.
Part of a Broader Crackdown on Child Exploitation
The charges against Hollis land amid an intensified regional push against online child exploitation. Earlier this month, Florida state law enforcement and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office completed a multi-agency crackdown resulting in 116 arrests and the recovery of more than 100 child sexual abuse material files from suspects' cellphones, an operation that also rescued five human trafficking victims across the state. On the same day HCSO announced the charges against Hollis, the agency also arrested a 31-year-old Tampa middle school teacher on charges involving a former student, underscoring how frequently the sheriff's office has been pursuing these cases in recent months.
That pattern has repeated throughout the year. In June, HCSO's Internet Predator Unit executed a search warrant in Ruskin following a social media tip, arresting three suspects and seizing digital evidence of exploitation. And in May, a 24-year-old Tampa man was sentenced in Hillsborough County Circuit Court to 50 years in state prison followed by lifetime probation after pleading guilty to dozens of child sexual performance and CSAM promotion counts, illustrating the severity of sentences Hillsborough prosecutors have pursued in similar cases.
HCSO's social media account, which the agency notes is not monitored around the clock, directed anyone with information to contact the sheriff's office at 813-247-8200.
