MIAMI – Federal authorities said a Georgia man flying from Miami International Airport to Colombia was caught with nude photos of himself with a teenage girl from that country; court documents state he admitted to visiting the country nearly a dozen times in less than two years.
Hamzeh Anasweh, a dual Jordanian-American citizen, appeared in Miami federal court on Monday on charges of transportation and possession of child pornography. Homeland Security Investigations agents took him into custody on Friday, according to a criminal complaint.
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Authorities said Anasweh, 57, was traveling alone and had flown in from Atlanta the night before. The complaint states that on Friday morning, HSI and Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted him at the gate as he was about to board his Avianca flight to Medellin.
They conducted an outbound border search and discovered four cellphones. According to the complaint, one of those phones had a hidden folder containing “several images of naked young females,” including five photos of a Colombian identified as “J.S.”
“J.S.” was 17 when the photos were taken on Oct. 9, 2023, and three of the photos showed both her and Anasweh nude together, agents said.
The search also revealed a chat exchange between Anasweh and the girl in which she asked him for money for school, requesting it be sent to her sister’s account, authorities said. The complaint states that Anasweh said he “already had (her) mother in the system and he would send the money to that account instead.”
The search also revealed that “J.S.” had sent Anasweh a photo of her identification in January, showing she was 17, the complaint states. Authorities allege that Anasweh commented that she “looked like a ‘baby’ in the photo.”
Agents also searched Anasweh’s luggage and found “an unopened and unpackaged pink vape pen and five packaged and unopened perfume bottles, including two Disney princess branded bottles,” the court documents state.
During an interview, Anasweh admitted to having sex with the girl when she was 17, but claimed he believed she was an adult and claimed the photos in his phone gallery depicted adults, authorities said.
“He indicated that he frequently requested and photographed identification cards belonging to the young females in order to ensure they were of age,” the complaint states.
After being asked whether he paid “J.S.” for sex, Anasweh told agents “nothing was free” and that he “took care” of the girls and that they “took care” of him, agents wrote.
Authorities said Anasweh admitted to traveling to Colombia 13 times since 2019; 11 of those trips came after August 2022.
Anasweh’s case draws parallels to that of Stefan Andres Correa.
Agents arrested Correa, a 42-year-old pharmacist from Miami, in April on allegations that he paid to have sex with children in Colombia, which has been described as a hub for child sex tourism.
Like Anasweh, Correa was arrested after attempting to board a flight to the South American nation. U.S. and Colombian authorities have said they are cracking down on child trafficking in the country.
Anasweh, after being taken into custody, was booked into the Broward County jail, though he was later booked into the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami, where he was being held as of Tuesday morning, according to online records.