SAN JOSE — A Salinas man has been launched from federal custody after prosecutors charged him with arranging to purchase two ladies, aged 12 and 14, for a “full girlfriend experience” on a prostitution web site, court docket information present.
Edy Antonio Jr., 30, allegedly insisted that “I was trying to do a good deed,” whereas being arrested within the undercover bust. Antonio was arrested in late April, after allegedly answering an advert for “two pretty lil flowers that are ready to bloom” accompanied by two footage with a listed age of “99,” in accordance with the prison criticism.
Antonio has been charged with tried coercion and enticement of a minor to have interaction in prison sexual conduct, which carries a compulsory sentence of 10 years to life in federal jail.
An undercover officer posing as a human trafficker later informed Antonio that the women have been 12 and 14, and Antonio subsequently negotiated — and agreed to — a $500 value for an hour with each ladies paying an additional $50 so he wouldn’t need to put on a condom, authorities allege. When he confirmed as much as a Starbucks close to a lodge for the deliberate meetup, he was arrested, in accordance with court docket information.
“The only thing that stopped the defendant from sexually assaulting two minor girls was the fact that the girls were fictional,” prosecutors wrote in a failed movement to maintain Antonio behind bars whereas the case is pending. As a substitute, U.S. Justice of the Peace Decide Nathanael Cousins agreed to launch Antonio on an unsecured $50,000 bond, court docket information present.
Antonio is subsequent due in court docket on June 3.
After his arrest, Antonio undertook the disagreeable process of calling his “long time romantic partner” and assuring the lady that he was “trying to do a good deed.” The decision was recorded from a neighborhood jail, authorities mentioned.
“Somebody messaged me…trying to sell me, like, like adolescents, kids, right? So I was like, ‘What the hell?’ So I messaged them back in hoping to like, you know, see if I can get their address and I can call 911, but then when they gave me the address, I went there, and next thing you know, I got (expletive) arrested,” Antonio allegedly defined. “And now they’re charging me for pedophile and all that bulls—.”
However earlier, when authorities requested him point-blank if he was there to purchase two ladies, Antonio replied, “yeah,” the criticism says. This got here after he informed the authorities he was on his method to work at a Monterey hospital, the place he’s employed as a respiratory therapist, however the investigators identified the Starbucks was approach out of his logical route.
“I’d just like to say I’m sorry. I can’t take back what I did, but I can learn from it,” Antonio allegedly mentioned throughout his interview with investigators. “I’m happy it’s not real, that these girls aren’t being sold real, but I know it’s happening out there, especially in the third-world countries.”
