MIAMI (AP) — A 17-year-old South Florida boy is facing sex trafficking charges after being accused of selling a 14-year-old girl on social media.
Miami Springs police officers were called to the Runway Motel on Tuesday night to check on a teenage girl who had run away from home after a family dispute, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office told news outlets.
A family member told investigators that they thought the girl had gone to the motel and was being sold for sex by a teenage boy. The person directed the officers to a social media site.
At the motel, the girl told investigators that she had been introduced to the teen by a friend after she left home.
According to prosecutors, the boy engaged the girl in a relationship, and told her she could make money by prostituting herself.
“This situation is every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “Children like this, our children, can be lost so easily. But I and our law enforcement partners are determined to keep that from happening.”
The girl told investigators that even though the teen knew she was a minor, he set her up with people who he referred to as dates on social media. She told them the boy told her how to handle the transactions, noting that she did up to five “dates” in a day.
Prosecutors said the teenager took all the money and controlled her living situation, providing the hotel room, transportation and the social media platform for the transactions. The teen is accused of providing the girl with drugs that included cocaine and MDMA.
The teen is facing multiple charges, including human trafficking.
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