From Post Gazette
An illegal alien from Guatemala living in Penn Hills has been indicted on charges of attempted sexual coercion of a young girl who turned out to be an undercover agent.
Horacio Miranda-Mejia, 26, was being held in U.S. custody on one count of attempted sexual coercion of a minor and a count of illegal re-entry by a removed alien after being previously deported.
He had been charged in June by a complaint brought by the FBI; a grand jury indicted him Tuesday.
According to the complaint, an undercover agent in June assumed the online identity of a 12-year-old girl living in Pittsburgh. Mr. Miranda-Mejia contacted the undercover agent on June 22. Initially, his picture on the app was of a leg wearing green shoes. He later changed his profile picture to that of a Hispanic male.
The undercover traced the phone number he was using, identified Mr. Miranda-Mejia and determined that he had previous dealings with the Department of Homeland Security. DHS provided a picture of him, which looked similar to his online profile.
Mr. Miranda-Mejia began conversing with the undercover on a messenger app, thinking he was talking to a 12-year-old girl and began asking increasingly sexual questions, according to the complaint.
After determining that she was a virgin, he eventually asked if she wanted to have sex with him. The undercover responded that he was starting to scare her and tried to call off a meeting several times but Mr. Miranda-Mejia persisted and “assured the undercover that he would not harm her.”
On June 15, law officers were waiting as he arrived at an apartment complex where the undercover said she lived and took him into custody.
He will be arraigned July 29.
