A 40-year-old Naples man traveled the long distance down Alligator Alley to South Florida, purportedly believing he had secured a $300 deal for the night: an illicit encounter with a 15-year-old girl arranged directly through her mother.
Instead of the teen, federal investigators waited behind the hotel’s door.
Court documents reveal a sting operation that started in the digital shadows. Authorities say Dexing Zhang, a Chinese national who lives on Florida’s southwest coast, spent days exchanging phone conversations and messaging app texts with a person he assumed was the girl’s mom. According to authorities, the conversations became explicit, with Zhang turning down a contract to meet the youngster at a Davie hotel and offering a $300 payment for a sexual act.
Zhang, believing the encounter was set, drove from Naples across the state and walked right into an FBI Miami Field Office trap. Officers arrested him on the spot.
Zhang is now facing federal accusations for attempted sex trafficking of a minor. The gamble bears serious consequences: a conviction entails a mandatory 10-year prison sentence, with the possibility of spending the remainder of his life in federal prison.
The arrest was announced jointly by Acting US Attorney Yara Lorenzo Klukas for the Southern District of Florida and FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles. Jodi Anton, an Assistant United States Attorney, has been assigned to prosecute the case.
Leave a Reply