MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A Miami-Dade man was arrested early Wednesday morning on more than two dozen charges related to sex crimes involving children following a SWAT raid that left his 21-year-old brother dead, according to jail records obtained by Local 10 News.
Records show Cristian Barata, 25, was taken into custody around 12:15 a.m. on 15 counts of possessing images of sexual performance by a child and 10 counts of promoting or attempting to promote sexual performance by a child.
It happened after Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team rolled into a southwest Miami-Dade neighborhood near Fairway Heights Boulevard and Southwest 102nd Place early Tuesday morning.
Deputies were assisting investigators with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, serving a warrant in a case involving the sexual exploitation of children.
With guns drawn, deputies crowded the front yard of the home, where several people, including a young child, were inside.
According to Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, a man confronted deputies with a firearm and they were forced to fire. The 21-year-old, later identified by his mother as Christopher Barata, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“He was just 21 years old,” the mother said in Spanish, weeping. “My son … my son … he worked for TSA and was going to join the Army. They killed him.” She also insisted that her son did not own a gun.
Moments after the gunfire, deputies detained Cristian Barata.
ordero-Stutz said the victims in the case ranged in age from infancy to 6 years old, and that Cristian Barata had been viewing and distributing child sexual abuse material online.
“The ICAC warrants are historically some of the most dangerous we serve,” Cordero-Stutz said. “Our deputies rendered aid to the individual who was shot, but he died at the home.”
The stepfather of the Barata brothers, Israel Lopez, said the family is devastated.
“My wife is devastated. She has no one in jail, one is dead,” he said.
Both men had worked for the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA confirmed that the employees involved had their access to secure areas revoked and were removed from duties pending the investigation.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is handling the investigation into the deputy-involved shooting.
Cordero-Stutz asked the community to come forward with any information regarding these crimes against children.
Records show Barata remains behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond is listed as “to be set.”
Local 10 News has requested his arrest report from MDSO.
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