A minor girl ran away from a South Florida foster home, and without money or any place to go, became a human trafficking victim and was assaulted by a 27-year-old man in Miramar, an arrest warrant said.
Jomar Jeffery, of Miramar, was arrested on Aug. 31 on one count of sexual battery of a victim between the ages of 12 and 18, one count of lewd or lascivious battery of a victim older than 12 but younger than 16 and one count of contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a child, Broward County court records show.
A human trafficking investigation launched by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, which led to the involvement of the FBI and Miramar Police, resulted in Jeffery’s arrest and that of two other men in Miami-Dade County, according to Jeffery’s arrest warrant which became publicly available Friday.
Miami-Dade prosecutors contacted Miramar Police in early February, when a minor girl ran away from the foster home His House Children’s Home in Miami Gardens, the warrant said. Law enforcement found her at a home in Hialeah in the 1200 block of West 25th Street on Feb. 13 in a red Lexus with two adult men, Christopher Velazco, 27, and Jeremy Soto-Acevedo, 20, records show.
The three were there to pick up the girl’s minor friend to “engage in commercial sex acts,” the warrant said, and both were arrested that day on child sex trafficking charges. Their cases are ongoing in Miami-Dade, court records show.
Investigators found that Jeffery was the registered owner of the Lexus, the warrant said. Miami investigators and a Miramar Police investigator interviewed Jeffery before he was in custody, and he denied any involvement.
The minor victim said in an interview with State Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force investigators that she was taken to Jeffery’s home in the 9500 block of Glacier Street in Miramar, and they smoked marijuana and snorted ecstasy. It was not immediately clear in the warrant who took her to the home.
The girl said Jeffery sexually assaulted her twice while she stayed at his home on Feb. 11 and 12. While staying there, she slept in his car parked outside, “with little to no clothes and no food,” according to the warrant.
The girl said Jeffery’s neighbor who lived across the street was also involved in sex trafficking her, the warrant said. It was not immediately clear whether he has been arrested or may be facing charges.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Innocence Sold investigation exposed the state foster care system’s complicity in the sex trafficking of vulnerable minors. The year-long investigation found that runaways from Florida’s child welfare system are at increased odds of becoming sex trafficking victims, and youth who have a history of commercial sexual exploitation run away from groups homes at a startling rate.
Prosecutors received search warrants for Jeffery’s, Velazco’s and Soto-Acevedo’s cellphones, according to the warrant, and the minor girl gave consent for her phone to be searched. Investigators found text messages between her and Jeffery discussing using drugs together and a video recording of Jeffery sexual assaulting her.
A toxicology report showed the girl had THC in her system, methamphetamine, amphetamine and cocaine, according to the warrant.
Court records show Jeffery was released on bond Friday, is on house arrest and is ordered not to contact any minors.