MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police have made another arrest in connection with the case of a mental health professional accused of trafficking a 15-year-old girl at a Kendall hotel.
Hermes Mejia, 29, of southwest Miami-Dade, joins 45-year-old psychologist Maria Ximena Duarte and her 46-year-old boyfriend, Jason Mojica, in facing charges in the case following his arrest on Thursday on counts of lewd and lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious exhibition on a child.
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Duarte, who was arrested on Sunday, is accused of gaining the 15-year-old victim’s trust after meeting her at the pool of the Aloft Miami Dadeland hotel, located at 7600 N. Kendall Drive, and luring her back to her room.
At one point, police said Duarte had sex with Mejia, previously identified in arrest reports as “Pablo,” in front of the girl.
Mojica, arrested on Tuesday, is accused of subsequently sexually battering the teen.
According to an arrest report, Duarte first met the girl last Tuesday at the pool as the teen walked her dog.
Police said Duarte, of North Miami, befriended the girl, “quickly gaining her trust” by saying she was a psychologist and offered the girl drugs and alcohol.
Authorities said the girl met up with Duarte in her room the next day and said that Duarte “began to take pictures of the victim” and sent them to a man named Pablo, later identified as Mejia, saying that the victim “was 21 years old and willing to have sex with him.”
An arrest report states the victim wasn’t willing.
Police said Mejia came to the room and Duarte had sex with him in front of the teen; the report states Duarte had the girl record video of Duarte and the man “while telling the victim that she was teaching her.”
The report states at some point Mojica then went into the hotel room, where he proceeded to force her to perform a sex act.
Police said Duarte, at one point, remarked to Mojica, “She’s 15, can you believe that?” and told the girl, before being sexually assaulted, that she needed to “make Jason feel good.”
Authorities said the victim reported what happened the next day and police would later arrest Duarte, who, as of Friday, remained held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without bond on charges including human trafficking and lewd and lascivious exhibition on a child.
Police said they would identify Mojica, who is homeless, through “investigative techniques” and that the victim would identify him from a photo as the suspect. He’s facing counts of sexual battery of a victim 12 to 17, lewd and lascivious battery and interference with custody and also remained at TGK without bond as of Friday.
As for the latest arrest, police said they were able to identify Mejia as a suspect and took him into custody Thursday following a traffic stop near Southwest 75th Avenue and Coral Way. He was also at TGK on Friday, with a bond listed in online jail records as “to be set.”