MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 17-year-old boy is facing serious charges after authorities said he sold a 14-year-old girl on social media for sex in exchange for cash and drugs.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami Springs Police Chief Armando Guzman, Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements and City of Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina announced the rescue of the victim on Thursday.
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The State Attorney’s Office said the teenage girl had run away from home weeks before she was trafficked by Javier Quintero.
“This situation is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. “That is why the work of our Human Trafficking Task Force is so important. Children like this, our children, can be lost so easily. But I and our law enforcement partners are determined to keep that from happening. Our children’s futures are just too valuable.”
According to prosecutors, Miami Springs police were called to the Runway Motel late Tuesday night by a relative of the victim.
Police said the girl had run away from home after a family dispute and the relative told officers that they believed she was inside a room at the motel being sold for sex.
The family member showed officers a specific Instagram account that authorities said Quintero was using to sell the victim for sex.
Quintero was arrested on numerous charges, including human trafficking, interference with the custody of a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a child and possession of materials displaying a sexual performance by a child.
According to prosecutors, the victim told detectives that she was introduced to Quintero by a friend and began having a sexual relationship with him.
The teen said Quintero told her she could make $250 an hour by performing sexual acts with men in exchange for money.
The victim said that Quintero knew that she was a minor and set up all of the sexual contacts, which she referred to as “dates.”
According to prosecutors, Quintero had the teen take the payment at the beginning of each “date” and made her give him all of the money, saying that it was to ensure that she wouldn’t be robbed.
The girl told detectives that she would have up to five “dates” in one day.
Authorities said Quintero provided the teen with a variety of drugs, as well, including MDMA, cocaine, marijuana and Percocet.
He is currently being held at the Juvenile Assessment Center.