A 24-year-old San Diego man was behind bars Thursday on suspicion of attempting to lure an 11-year-old he met online for sex, it was reported.
Miguel Cervantes met the girl last month on an app called Candid, which allows users to chat anonymously. Their conversations became increasingly salacious and within days, Cervantes began talking about engaging in sexual acts with the girl and requesting that she send nude photos, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported, citing charges unsealed Tuesday in federal court.
On March 21, Cervantes allegedly urged the girl to leave a family trip to another state and fly back to San Diego. He also asked her to save her allowance money so she could buy him a plane ticket to where she was and rent a hotel room.
During one of their chats in which the girl confirmed that she was only 11, Cervantes allegedly replied: “If anyone finds out that we’re doing this I could go to prison. So I just want you to know that,” according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Cervantes had been claiming he was 18 years old, according to NBC7.
Cervantes and the victim eventually made plans to meet up, but the girl later backed out, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The girl’s mother discovered the two had been chatting and contacted police.
A member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force posed as the victim and set up a meeting at a McDonald’s restaurant near her home. Cervantes was arrested as he arrived at the eatery on suspicion of attempted enticement of a minor and sexual exploitation of a child, according to news reports.
He allegedly admitted after his arrest that he had known the victim was a minor, that he sent her multiple photos of his genitals using the Candid app and that he would have sexually exploited her if possible, NBC7 reported.
Cervantes remains jailed pending a detention hearing Friday, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
—City News Service
