Joshua Ackerman, Nathan Pierson and Stephen Padgett were recently sentenced for sexual crimes against juveniles.

According to Gainesville Police Department (GPD) releases sent Wednesday, Ackerman, 19, was sentenced to 15 years in the Florida Department of Corrections followed by 10 years of sex offender probation.  

Ackerman was arrested in April 2024 and charged with incest and sexual assault of a juvenile. The assault incidents took place multiple times over four years through February 2024 and started when Ackerman was 14 or 15 and the victim, a family member, was 12.

Pierson, 29, was sentenced to 25 years plus life after being arrested in August 2023 for sexual battery of his pregnant girlfriend’s 9-year-old daughter. According to the release, Pierson groomed the child by having her watch pornography and by teaching her how to masturbate.

Pierson was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child under 12, one count of lewd and lascivious molestation and one count of lewd and lascivious exhibition to a child.

Padgett, 58, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for preying on young children for decades, according to the release.

He was arrested on Dec. 20, 2023, after he targeted three girls, between the ages of 5 and 7, while they were Christmas shopping with their families at Target. Padgett masturbated in front of the children and his actions were caught on the store’s surveillance video.