Chinese National Charged With Attempted Sex Trafficking of 15-Year-Old Girl in Florida
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced that Dexing Zhang, a Chinese national, has been charged with attempting to sex traffic a 15-year-old girl. Zhang, 40, resides in Naples, Florida. According to court records, he communicated by phone and messaging application with a person he believed to be the mother of a 15-year-old girl and discussed arranging a sexual encounter with the minor in Davie, Florida, allegedly offering to pay $300.
Zhang was arrested at a hotel after driving from Naples to meet the girl for the planned encounter, court records show. He is charged with attempted sex trafficking of a minor and, if convicted, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. Related court documents are available from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida under case number 26-cr-60254.
FBI Miami is investigating the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jodi Anton is prosecuting. Acting U.S. Attorney Yara Lorenzo Klukas for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, the Department of Justice's nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The Department of Justice notes that an indictment is merely an allegation and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Suspected human trafficking can be reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, available 24 hours a day. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国联邦调查局（FBI）总部胡佛大楼（ajay_suresh 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons；四级固定图库 fed-fbi-building，本案由 FBI 迈阿密分部调查，当事人无官方照片）。 / Photo: The FBI headquarters (J. Edgar Hoover Building), photographed by ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons (GSM fixed asset library; the case is investigated by FBI Miami and no official photo of the defendant is available).
