CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A British man living in Switzerland flew to South Florida to meet a teenage boy for sex but instead encountered local police and federal agents at his Coral Gables hotel room, authorities allege.
Recommended Videos
Jack Edward Coles, 39, was arrested on Friday. He’s now facing federal charges of enticement of a minor and traveling to the United States with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.
A Homeland Security Investigations special agent wrote in a federal criminal complaint that Coles first encountered the boy on the app Grindr after he flew from Zurich to Miami on Oct. 6 to stay at a Coral Gables hotel.
The two eventually communicated on Instagram, authorities said. The complaint includes an alleged conversation from the app in which the boy, actually 14, told Coles “I’m 16 btw” — still under the age of consent in Florida — as they planned an Oct. 10 meeting.
“So (you’re) 16,” authorities allege Coles texted the teen. “We (can’t) have sex right you gotta be 18?”
The complaint states the boy replied, “Yes.”
“Sweet ok,” Coles is accused of replying. “I don’t want to break any laws!”
But agents allege that Coles did break the law when he had the boy come to the Hyatt Regency at 50 Alhambra Plaza. The complaint states that Coles gave the boy a White Claw hard seltzer and the two engaged in sex acts that evening.
Authorities said Coles messaged the teen after the meeting.
“Amor — que rico,” agents said he told the boy. “Hahah incredible to meet you (name redacted). (Can’t) wait to see you again.”
According to the complaint, he added, verbatim, “Youre gunna be my miami boyfriend by the way.”
Authorities said Coles messaged the boy on Feb. 1 and told him he would be back in South Florida “so I see u.”
They said on Feb. 2 he flew from Frankfurt, Germany to Los Angeles and then flew from there to Miami on Wednesday.
The agent didn’t state in the complaint how authorities became aware of Coles’ alleged activities, but on Friday, he said he met with the boy in Deerfield Beach and, with permission, commandeered his Instagram account to pose as the teen.
Coles arranged to have who he thought was the teen picked up by Uber at the Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater and taken to the Courtyard Miami Coral Gables at 2051 S. Le Jeune Road, authorities said.
At 10:25 p.m., the ride arrived, they said. But the HSI agent got in the car instead.
“Should I leave the door open and wait naked or (sic) bed?” Coles messaged him, according to the complaint. “Or you want me to open it for you u (sic)?”
Coles and the agent, posing as the boy, agreed to have the door open, the complaint states.
After the agent sent a message that he was in the elevator, Coles, “naked, except for a shirt,” opened the door and HSI agents and Miami police officers “entered the room and arrested him,” it states.
Coles had been taken to the Broward County Main Jail following his arrest. Broward Sheriff’s Office records show he left the agency’s custody Monday afternoon; he was not yet listed in Federal Bureau of Prisons records.
Further information regarding his case status was not immediately available in federal court records Monday.