TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A coordinated, multi-agency search for a missing and endangered minor ended Monday, Oct. 19, with Tallahassee police arresting a 43-year-old Fort Lauderdale man on multiple charges tied to human trafficking and child exploitation.<\/p>\n
The Tallahassee Police Department arrested Terrence Lee after being contacted shortly before 1 p.m. Oct. 19 by an out-of-state law enforcement agency that requested help locating the minor, who was believed to be traveling with an adult male.<\/p>\n
After the out-of-state agency entered the vehicle\u2019s information into an automated license plate reader system, a privately operated camera mounted on a tow truck detected the vehicle in Tallahassee. The out-of-state agency provided that information to TPD, which allowed officers to locate the vehicle at a motel in the 2800 block of North Monroe Street.<\/p>\n
Police said officers arrived and apprehended Lee within minutes, without incident. Officers then searched the motel and found the minor hiding beneath a bathroom sink.<\/p>\n
TPD\u2019s Special Victims Unit took over the investigation and determined Lee traveled from South Florida to another state, where he picked up the minor. Investigators said he trafficked the child across multiple state lines, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Detectives also determined Lee posted online advertisements seeking to sexually exploit the minor for financial gain.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery child deserves to feel safe, and when that safety is threatened, we have a responsibility to act,\u201d Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said. \u201cThis case is an example of strong coordination between law enforcement agencies and the dedication of our officers and detectives to help those in danger. We will pursue every lead to hold those responsible accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigation remains active, and additional arrests are possible.<\/p>\n
Lee was arrested on charges of human trafficking of a person under 18 years of age, lewd or lascivious battery, possession of child pornography, possession with intent to promote child pornography, promoting a sexual performance by a child, and interference with custody.<\/p>\n
Anyone with information related to the case is encouraged to contact TPD at 850-891-4200 or remain anonymous by calling Big Bend Crime Solvers at 850-574-TIPS. Anyone who suspects human trafficking activity is encouraged to contact local law enforcement or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A coordinated, multi-agency search for a missing and endangered minor ended Monday, Oct. 19, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-434584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}