In a disturbing unfolding of events in Palm Beach County, two men are currently incarcerated on charges linked to the trafficking of underage girls for sex work. Jaime Figueroa, 34, and his associates Raymond Jean, 45, and Antonio Michel, 35, have been accused of exploiting minors, using local motels as a base for their illegal operations. According to the CBS12 News report, the victims had run away from a group home and were manipulated into prostitution in exchange for basic necessities, including money and food.
Figueroa, a resident of Boynton Beach, appeared in court on Tuesday. The specific charges against him include human trafficking for commercial sex activity involving minors. "It's not a surprise but it's very sad. In the United States the average entry age into for a woman into sex trafficking is 13 and trending younger," Becky Dymond, the founder and executive director of Lighthouse Palm Beach County, outlined in a statement obtained by CBS12 News. Lighthouse Palm Beach County is a non-profit organization that aids women exiting sex trafficking and prostitution.
The gravity of these allegations is compounded by reports from the WPBF article that detail Figueroa's modus operandi. The suspect allegedly provided the victims with drugs, including marijuana and crack cocaine, and personally benefited from their earnings from prostitution. Figueroa is also accused of directly engaging in sexual acts with the girls, who were exploited at various motels in the region.
Local motels such as The Stay Inn and Tiki Hut in Boynton Beach, as well as the Barefoot Mailman in Lantana, were the purported settings for these heinous acts. When CBS12 News approached The Stay Inn for comment, an employee denied knowledge of such activities, stating, "I don't know. They are not coming." This denial came despite the arrest report specifically implicating the hotel's involvement. The Tiki Hut Motel's owner also denied knowledge of the illegal activities but suggested initial steps would be taken to prevent such crimes: "Yeah, we don't do it. But, if I know now there's something wrong, we don't rent it," the owner told CBS12 News.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office's report highlighted that after leaving a group home, the trio of juveniles encountered an unnamed man who subsequently introduced them to Figueroa, leading to their victimization. Figueroa is currently held in the Palm Beach County Jail without bail, facing a string of charges including multiple human trafficking, sexual assault, and delinquency of a minor. The court has also ordered him to not have contact with children under the age of 18 and with the co-defendants.
