Miami-Dade Police have arrested a third individual in connection with the alleged sex trafficking of a 15-year-old girl by a licensed mental health counselor. Hermes Mejia, 29, faces charges including lewd and lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious exhibition on a child, after being taken into custody yesterday. The case has already seen the arrests of 45-year-old Maria Ximena Duarte and her boyfriend, 46-year-old Jason Mojica, both accused of playing a role in the victimization of the teenager at a Miami hotel.
According to NBC Miami, the victim first encountered Duarte, a psychologist, while walking her dog around the pool area of the Aloft Miami Dadeland hotel on August 13. the report notes that spirited in a bid to gain trust, Duarte represented herself as a psychologist to the teen, offering her illegal substances which the teen partly accepted. Following this initial meeting, Duarte is said to have enticed the teen into her hotel room on multiple occasions.
Following her arrest, Duarte appeared before a judge and was ordered to be held without bond. The desperation etched into the face of the accused, Duarte beseeched the court, "I'm a psychologist, I'm a PhD, I will lose my license and my life, I need help, I never even touched that girl." The judge presiding over the hearing, Mindy Glazer, referenced the severity of the charges, stating, "The facts alleged in here are terrible facts," as reported by NBC Miami.
Investigators allege that Mejia eventually arrived at the hotel room engaged in sexual acts with Duarte in the teen's presence. The teen was then coerced into participating against her will. Accused of witnessing this, Duarte was casually remarking to her boyfriend, believing in the youth's age, "She's 15, can you believe that?" before instructing the victim to "make Jason feel good," according to an arrest report obtained by Local 10 News.
The teen reported her encounter the following day, which led to swift action by authorities resulting in the apprehensions. Duarte and Mojica, who was identified through "investigative techniques," are currently held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on multiple charges including human trafficking. Mejia, also held, awaits bond setting after police apprehended him during a traffic stop near Southwest 75th Avenue and Coral Way, as reported by Local 10 News.
