MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A clerk at a Miami Beach convenience store molested a teenage boy after agreeing to illegally sell him a vape device over the weekend, according to police.
Police said the attack happened just before 5 p.m. Saturday at the MB Market, located at 1510 Washington Ave. on South Beach.
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According to an arrest report, the 14-year-old victim walked into the store, grabbed a water bottle and approached store clerk Segundo Juan Justo Huaman Chinguel, asking if he could purchase a vape.
Police said Huaman Chinguel, 38, asked the boy how old he was. The report states the victim lied and said 16, still too young to purchase a vape, but the clerk agreed to sell it to him.
The report states Huaman Chinguel walked the boy “towards the back of the business in front of the bathroom.”
“This is when (Huaman Chinguel) gave the victim the vape pen with one hand and with his other hand grabbed his penis and testicles,” police wrote.
Huaman Chinguel then told the boy to go into the bathroom to test the vape to make sure it was working, the report states.
Police said the two went into the bathroom together.
“The victim tested the vape and this is when (Huaman Chinguel) grabs the victim’s penis and testicles once again and asks him if he can kiss him,” the report states. “The victim responds by saying no. (He) then leaves the store.”
Police said the victim went back to the store and confronted Huaman Chinguel while recording on his cellphone.
The arrest report states that officers viewed the video, in which Huaman Chinguel confirms the boy told him he was 16 and admits to touching him.
Police said Huaman Chinguel claimed that the boy told him he was 21 and sold him the vape without checking his identification.
The report states that officers asked Huaman Chinguel to show them surveillance video, which shows the pair walking towards the bathroom.
The video, which was “slightly blocked off,” showed the store clerk “putting his arm around the victim from the side and then leaning his head in” toward the boy’s face.
Police said the pair walked out of view briefly, then came back into view “walking towards the front of the store where they embraced each other.”
Authorities said they took Huaman Chinguel into custody based on the victim’s statement, the surveillance and cellphone videos and conflicting statements Huaman Chinguel made about the incident.
He’s facing a felony count of lewd and lascivious molestation on a minor aged 12 to 16, plus misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and selling tobacco products to a minor under 18.
Huaman Chinguel’s bond is listed as “to be set” in Miami-Dade jail records. Additionally, the Peruvian national remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center Monday on an immigration hold.