PLANTATION, Fla. – An online group caught and confronted a Plantation man trying to meet with and sexually assault who he thought was an 11-year-old, according to police. Less than a month after that, police say he tried again to meet with a child — this time, as part of an official police sting.
Police arrested Drew Russell Lash on Friday. According to court documents obtained by Local 10 News on Tuesday, the 64-year-old is facing 13 felony charges.
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According to an arrest report from the Plantation Police Department, Lash ended up on detectives’ radar on Jan. 19 after the group “Predator Poachers,” which conducts its own “stings” of people the group claims are trying to lure children online, went to Lash’s apartment and confronted him in a live online video. Police said the group turned over Facebook messages after its members claimed he tried to lure an 11-year-old girl online for “sexual activities.”
The girl he chatted with wasn’t real, according to court documents, and was instead a decoy created by “Predator Poachers.”
“He stated (in the chats) that the youngest age he would have sex with would be about 9 years old,” the report states.
But the charges against Lash stem from a sting PPD detectives conducted afterward, authorities said. The report states they set up a Facebook account for a fictitious 13-year-old girl named “Nicole” and added Lash as a friend.
Despite being confronted by “Predator Poachers” two weeks prior, police said Lash began chatting with “Nicole,” eventually moving over to the encrypted Google Chat application.
Police said in one chat, after “Nicole” told Lash she was 13, he replied, “That’s a big reason why I love you.”
He then asked “Nicole” to repeat sexual phrases and perform sexual acts on him, the report states.
“I really love the fact that you are only 13,” police say Lash said in a chat. “Come on Nicole there is nothing to be nervous about.”
The report states that Lash then began, in graphic detail, to explain sexual acts to the girl that he would perform on her and he eventually asked her to meet him.
Police said Lash later encouraged “Nicole” to bring a “girlfriend,” also “13 and inexperienced” to their encounter, so he could sexually assault both of them.
“This conversation exemplifies the deviant nature of (Lash) to not only carry out these sexual acts with one child, but two,” a detective wrote.
Authorities said eventually, the undercover detective broke off contact with Lash to “provide time for (him) to consider the possible criminal ramifications of his actions.”
But over five days, Lash sent the girl 23 Google messages, six Facebook messages and called her eight times each using Google and Facebook, the report states.
On Friday, the undercover detective and Lash arranged a meetup at Mirror Lake Park, the arrest report states.
The park, located at 1241 NW 72nd Ave., is about a half-mile south of Lash’s apartment and across the street from Mirror Lake Elementary School.
Lash told “Nicole” that she will “sleep in his bed with him and possibly another juvenile” and he told her that they will have dinner together, watch TV and then have sex, according to police.
“Will we have sex like you said before?” police say “Nicole” asked Lash. “You don’t care that I’m young right?”
Police said Lash replied, “You being young is perfect. And yes we will have sex. I am really looking forward to that” and then offered to show her pornographic videos in order to “show you what you need to do.”
The report states that “Nicole” asked Lash if the videos showed children.
“No these people are more like adults,” cops say he replied. “They try not to show young kids in videos like that. Even though I try to see if I can watch a video like that.”
Police said Lash came to Mirror Lake Park to meet with the girl just before 4:15 p.m. Friday and officers were there to meet him.
Authorities said in a police interview, Lash admitted he intended to have sex with the girl and confirmed the Facebook and Google accounts belonged to him.
Police arrested Lash on 11 counts of using a computer to seduce, solicit or lure a child and one count each of traveling to meet a child and using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.
He was being held in the Broward Sheriff’s Office’s Paul Rein Detention Facility on a $170,000 bond, according to online records.