Delray Beach police said a recent sting connected to the online anti-predator group 561 Predator Catchers has resulted in the arrest of a Miami man after investigators alleged he traveled to a planned meeting he believed involved a minor.
According to a probable cause affidavit from Delray Beach police, Kevin Alvarez communicated online with someone he thought was a young teen girl through a messaging exchange tied to 561 Predator Catchers. Investigators said the decoy told Alvarez they were in Delray Beach and that they would meet at a set location near 1230 W. Linton Blvd. in the area of a Dollar Tree.
When police responded as the meeting time approached, Alvarez allegedly arrived and was detained shortly after the confrontation.
The affidavit states police read Alvarez his Miranda rights and took statements from him at the scene. It further alleges that during the investigation Alvarez was charged with traveling to meet a minor for an unlawful sex act and with using a two-way device to facilitate the felony—allegations Florida law treats as serious offenses in cases where a person makes arrangements to have sex with someone believed to be underage.
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Alvarez’s case fits the pattern described in multiple recent 561 Predator Catchers-related arrests in Palm Beach County. In one earlier Delray Beach case, a Dollar Tree sting ended with police arresting Christofer Almendares, 36, after investigators said he used the “Meet Me” app to arrange an in-person encounter with a person posing as a 14-year-old.
In another recent arrest tied to the group, officers said a Mississippi man, Franco Vielma Alas, 40, traveled to Delray Beach after messaging a decoy who he believed was a minor, culminating in charges for traveling to meet a minor and using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.
And a member of the FAU student government was charged after a confrontation at a Home Depot in Delray Beach.