Hollywood man sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for attempting to sexually entice minors

MIAMI ā€“ A federal judge in Miami-Dade County sentenced a Hollywood man to 15 years in prison for attempting to sexually entice two minors, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

According to the DOJ, Ralph Kevin Tovar, 31, engaged in negotiations with undercover officers to pay for sex with purported minors who were being advertised for commercial sex.

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Authorities said on May 6, 2022, Tovar met with an undercover officer and paid the agreed upon price to engage in sexual activity with both a 13-year-old girl and 15-year-old girl.

Investigators said following Tovarā€™s arrest, agents searched his cellphone and confirmed he had been attempting to pay for sex with minors since January 2022.

According to prosecutors, Tovar, a Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center employee, was convicted of two counts of attempted sex trafficking of a minor and one count of attempted enticement and coercion of a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov.


About the Author:

Ryan Mackey is a Digital Journalist at WPLG. He was born in Long Island, New York, and has lived in Sunrise, Florida since 1994.