DANIA BEACH, Fla. — Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies said they conducted a human trafficking sting that netted seven suspects seeking to sexually abuse teenagers.
Six of them were from Broward County and the seventh was from neighboring Palm Beach County.
According to arrest reports, detectives used various websites and apps in which they posed as teenage boys or girls, or, on one website, an “older cousin” pimping a 15-year-old girl.
The men they chatted with were directed to go to a hotel in Dania Beach, the reports state.
Fifty-year-old Ryan Thorpe Walker, whose address is listed as a post office and distribution facility in Oakland Park, is accused of trying meet a teenage boy, while Marco Ramirez Linares, 22, of Hollywood, is accused of offering $100 for sex with a teenage girl.
Some of the suspects lied about their ages, detectives said.
Deputies said Zubaer Ashar, 27, of Greenacres, said he was 17 and asked the purported “cousin” whether a 15-year-old girl he was offering $150 for sex with was “on birth control.”
Kyle Andrew Rosenthal, 32, of Coral Springs, said he was 30 when attempting to meet up with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl, according to BSO.
At least two of the suspects acknowledged what they were doing could land them in jail, arrest reports state.
Deputies said when Grant Ryan Werner, 25, of Dania Beach, found out he was chatting with who he thought was a 15-year-old boy, he said, “Idkkk lol I’m low key ok with it but I don’t want to get in trouble.”
Authorities said Werner also told the purported teen, before the planned meetup, “yea haha I can Basically be charged as a pedofile (sic) lol.”
Deputies said Luis Chifundo Ortiz, 23, of Pembroke Pines, told who he thought was a 15-year-old boy, “Remember that you’re not legal” and, “You’re not 18+, so I have to be aware of that.”
A BSO news release states that the men arrested all face various charges, including “human trafficking of a minor, traveling to meet a minor, solicitation of a minor, possession of MDMA and violation of probation.”
According to BSO, deputies additionally said that during their operation, “ten victims were rescued and connected to critical resources such as shelter, medical care and counseling to help them rebuild their lives.”
“Additionally, one of the victims was identified as a teenage runaway from out of town,” the BSO news release states. “She was reunited with her family and offered extensive support services.”
Similar stings also recently took place in Miami-Dade County.
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