Miami, FL - A 25-year-old South Florida man has been accused of using Instagram to prey on minors and engage them in prostitution.
The human trafficking task force prosecutors have charged Mauricio Hernandez with two counts of human trafficking, two counts of commercial sex with a minor, two counts of sexual battery on a minor, two counts of using a computer to solicit a child for sex, two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child and one count of custody interference.
The prosecution's case is based on the testimony of two teenage girls, ages 13 and 15, who say they were victims of Hernandez's alleged crimes.
According to prosecutors, the girls connected with Hernandez on Instagram, after which the prostitution took place in his car and at motels.
During Hernandez's court appearance, Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Victoria Sigler stated that Hernandez offered one of the girls money in exchange for sex so that she could go on her eighth-grade field trip.
Judge Sigler ordered Hernandez to stay away from the victims in the case.
He's being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.