A 34-year-old Venezuelan national living in northwest Miami-Dade is facing multiple felony charges after police say he traveled to a Doral restaurant believing he was about to meet a 15-year-old boy for sex, only to be confronted by two private citizens running a decoy operation. Juan Leonel Jimenez Silva was taken into custody Monday night near Northwest Ninth Lane and Northwest 133rd Court, and a judge later found probable cause and set a $20,000 bond — though an immigration hold means he isn't going anywhere.
Conversation Moved From Grindr to WhatsApp
According to WSVN 7News, the case began October 1 when Jimenez Silva contacted an online persona posing as a 15-year-old boy on Grindr, an account that a private adult citizen had created. The conversation soon moved to WhatsApp, where the decoy wrote, “I'm 15. Is that cool?” — to which Jimenez Silva allegedly responded, “It fine with me, but I guess it would be difficult to see each other??” according to the arrest report cited by the station. Police said the exchange turned sexual from there, with Jimenez Silva sending sexually explicit material and messages describing sexual acts before asking to meet in person and providing his own home address.
Separately, Local 10 News reported that Jimenez Silva, after receiving Miranda warnings, told police his communications with the account began on Grindr before shifting to WhatsApp — matching the account laid out in the arrest report. The station also identified him as a Venezuelan national residing in northwest Miami-Dade.
The Meetup and His Departure
Jimenez Silva and the decoy agreed to meet at BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse along Northwest 107th Avenue in Doral, per the arrest report. Once inside, he was confronted by two adult private citizens — the same person who had built the decoy persona, and a second man who recorded video of the confrontation, according to Local 10's Spanish-language coverage. WSVN reports Jimenez Silva left the restaurant, ran through the parking lot, and drove off in a white Toyota SUV.
The two private citizens went to Doral police the day after the restaurant confrontation and provided sworn statements, screenshots of the conversation, and video of the confrontation, per the arrest report. Jimenez Silva was arrested Monday night.
Charges and an Immigration Hold Keep Him Detained
Jimenez Silva now faces four charges: traveling to meet a minor, electronically transmitting material harmful to a minor, using a computer to solicit or lure a child to engage in sexual conduct, and attempted lewd and lascivious conduct involving a child, according to the arrest report. A judge found probable cause and issued a $20,000 bond. Online jail records from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center show he's also subject to an immigration hold, which bars his release from custody regardless of bail.
Under Florida Statute 847.0135, traveling to meet a minor after using electronic communications to solicit sexual conduct is a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison and, if there is no basis for a downward departure, a mandatory minimum sentence of 21 months, according to Hanlon Law. The Brancato Law Firm discusses the child-or-belief element for computer solicitation under §847.0135(3).
Part of a Wider Pattern of Civilian Stings
This isn't the first time a private decoy operation has led to an arrest in South Florida. Hoodline reported in March that Broward Sheriff's Office deputies arrested a 50-year-old man in a Dania Beach Walmart parking lot after explicit Grindr communications with an online decoy group. Doral itself has seen a similar case before: in March, police arrested a local worker after explicit messages arranging a meetup with a teen turned up on the hookup app Sniffies.
Doral has logged thousands of property and violent crimes in recent years, with city data showing 6,490 property crimes and 2,392 violent crimes recorded between 2019 and 2024.
