Inverness sexual offender sentenced to life in prison
Graphic with Covyaw's mugshot courtesy of CCSO.
On March 29, 2023, 50 year-old Christopher James Covyaw of Inverness, FL, was sentenced to life in the Florida Department of Corrections as a result of his arrest by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) last year.
In June of 2022, the CCSO High Tech Crimes Unit (HTCU) worked with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to conduct Operation Cyber Knights, a strategic undercover Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) operation to apprehend cyber predators who demonstrated intent to engage in sexual activity with a child. During this operation, Covyaw made contact with an undercover law enforcement officer he believed to be a young boy. Despite acknowledging the alleged age of the 'child,' Covyaw still sent numerous pornographic images to the 'child' and made plans to meet with the alleged young boy to engage in sexual activity.
As a result of this operation, Covyaw was arrested on a Citrus County warrant that charged him with four counts of transmission of harmful material to a minor, two counts of seducing or luring a child, a sex offender violation - failing to register his phone number, and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device
According to Sydney Hudson, Community Relations Specialist with the CCSO, "Covyaw has been a registered sex offender for previous offenses involving children since 2021 and was to remain on sexual offender probation until May of 2028. Of the ten arrests resulting from Operation Cyber Knights, Covyaw is the sixth to be sentenced and the first to be sentenced to life in prison."
"Covyaw has proven that he cannot be rehabilitated and will not stop committing repulsive crimes," said Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast. "Covyaw will no longer be a danger to the children in our community, as he serves the rest of his life behind bars. This life sentence is an affirmation of CCSO's commitment to protecting our children from disgusting predators like Covyaw, and making Citrus County the safest community in Florida. I am extremely proud of our High Tech Crimes Unit and our partnering agencies for their outstanding work in taking yet another child predator off of our streets."