Man in Miami abuses two middle school students – one of them during school hours, police say

A Miami man used Instagram to find underage girls and pay them for sex – and abused a 15-year-old and a 13-year-old in the process, police said.

Mauricio Hernandez, 25, faces nine charges, including human trafficking, sexual assault of a minor, sexual solicitation of a child, lewd and lascivious assault of a child and interference with custody. He was still in jail on Friday.

On Wednesday, the Miami-Dade District Attorney’s Office Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force received a tip that a 15-year-old was a member of an Instagram group that puts children in touch with adults seeking sex for money, a police report said.

A Miami Police Department investigator spoke with the young girl, who described several sexual encounters with Hernandez. She said they met on Instagram and he offered money for sex.

She told the investigator that they met three times for sex and that on two of those occasions, Hernandez arranged for her to be picked up by an Uber near her middle school during class, the report said.

When authorities followed up on the original tip, they found a 13-year-old girl who had also been sexually abused by Hernandez, police said.

She also met Hernandez on Instagram and said he promised to give her money for sex. After they had intercourse in his car, he tried to give her a vape pen and wanted her to tell him if she knew any other young girls who would be willing to have sex for money.

After speaking with both victims, Miami investigators launched an undercover operation to capture Hernandez on Wednesday, the report said.

As investigators watched, the 13-year-old messaged Hernandez asking for help paying for her 8th grade field trip. He said he would only help if he could have sex with her.

Authorities arrested Hernandez at his home. He later confessed that he knew the girls were in middle school and that he had paid for sex with them, they say.