A Bayside man found himself in handcuffs on Thursday on charges that he allegedly used the social media platform Instagram to lure an underage girl into sex acts.
Prosecutors said Juan Cabrera, 21, of Bell Boulevard faces charges of attempted use of a child in a sexual performance, patronizing a prostitute, disseminating indecent material to minors and endangering the welfare of a child. He faces up to seven years behind bars if convicted, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
Law enforcement sources said that Cabrera, whose Instagram username is DAILYANTIX, connected with a 12-year-old girl through the social media network on or about Sept. 28, 2018. During a chat, he allegedly offered the girl $200 if she would watch him masturbate. He later increased the offer and said he would provide her $1,000 if she would agree to have sex with him.
Authorities said Cabrera allegedly told the victim to place the money in her friend’s family mailbox. When the girl asked how he knew her friend, Brown said, Cabrera allegedly told her that he knew where her friend lived, and that he had seen her in the neighborhood with her mother.
Later in the chat, prosecutors noted, Cabrera asked the 12-year-old victim if she wanted to watch him masturbate alone, or with her friend, who was 13 at the time of the incident.
Police were alerted to the lewd exchange, and an investigation that the NYPD Vice Major Case Team conducted linked Cabrera to the Instagram account through his cellphone records. Prior to his arrest, authorities said, Cabrera allegedly told police that the DAILYANTIX account belongs to him.
“The internet and many apps offered on cellphones can be entertaining and educational, however, they can also be portals for those on the hunt for young victims,” Brown said in a statement. “This kind of behavior will not be tolerated in Queens County.”
Brown said that the investigation remains ongoing, and anyone who has communicated with the Instagram user DAILYANTIX should call Detective Phil Adszewski of the Vice Major Case Team at 646-872-7609.
