Articles Posted in Sexual Assault

Published on:

By

A man who was allegedly employed by a local church as a driver is now facing charges after police say he sent sexually explicit messages to a 13-year-old girl he drove to and from church classes.

Elvin Daniel Ortiz Cruz, 23, was charged with promoting sexual performance by a child, electronic transmission harmful to a minor, and soliciting and luring a child to engage in sex, according to reporting from Channel 7 News. Ortiz Cruz was allegedly working as a van driver for the Ministerio Internacional Jesús El Salvador on Northwest 23rd Street. Ortiz Cruz reportedly began transporting the child to and from church classes in 2024 and police believe there may be more victims.

After discovering the messages on her daughter’s phone the girl’s mother reported them to police who began investigating. As a part of the investigation, detectives from the Miami Police Department and the Special Victims and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) units launched an undercover operation and pretended to be the victim, exchanging messages with Ortiz Cruz, according to local media.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

A teacher at Coral Springs Charter School in Broward County has been accused of sexually abusing a student, according to reporting from local media.

Joseph Michael Melendez, 33, was charged Thursday, Aug. 7, with one count of sexual battery of a victim between the ages of 12 and 18, two counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a victim between the ages of 12 and 16, and one count of lewd and lascivious molestation.

Melendez is accused of abusing the victim — whose name and age were not released to protect their identity — during their freshman and sophomore years at the charter school. The school serves students from sixth grade until their senior year of high school. The student told police that Melendez first gained his trust in January of 2018.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

Uber announced Wednesday the launch of its new “Women Preferences” feature, allowing women drivers and riders to choose to be matched with other women for their drive.

“At Uber, we believe that when we make our platform better for women, we make it better for everyone,” officials with the ride-sharing platform said in a statement. “Across the US, women riders and drivers have told us they want the option to be matched with other women on trips. We’ve heard them — and now we’re introducing new ways to give them even more control over how they ride and drive.”

Uber is slated to launch pilot programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit within the next few weeks.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

A therapist at a Miami women’s mental health and substance abuse treatment facility faces several charges after multiple women reported that he assaulted them during private sessions, according to local media.

Manuel Enrique Garcia, 33, was charged with at least three counts of felony charges related to sexual battery on clients.

Two women reported to police, alleging Garcia had assaulted them during private therapy sessions, according to reporting from CBS Miami. One woman said she was threatened with “job loss and homelessness if she spoke out,” reporters said in the article. Another woman told police that she was assaulted and that Garcia threatened to change her records to harm her standing in court, which would prevent her from “reuniting with her child.” This was not the only time that Garcia had approached the woman in this manner, according to police.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

A Florida movie theater’s armed guard was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of raping a girl, 15.

Augusta Williams, 34, was convicted of lewd or lascivious battery on a child aged 12 to 16, the State Attorney’s Office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit announced Monday.

The incident happened on Jan. 14, 2023, when the teen was at the movies in Ocala with a group of friends, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. The teen’s friends were picked up by a grandparent who refused to take the minor home. The teen could not reach a parent and Williams, an armed security guard at the theater, allegedly offered to watch over the minor.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

Leesfield & Partners has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a minor who was sexually assaulted at an LA Fitness in Miami by a gym member with a known history of violent behavior.

This case is being handled by Partner Justin B. Shapiro and Evan Robinson, a Trial Lawyer at the firm, who said that this preventable and traumatic incident represents a gross violation of basic safety standards.

“LA Fitness knew this assailant was a dangerous individual who had previously exhibited violent conduct at the gym,” he said. “They did nothing to restrict his access to the gym and their failure to act is the reason why our client experienced this horrific trauma.”

Continue reading
Published on:

By

A 72-year-old from Rhode Island has been accused of sexually abusing a child in a lazy river at an Orlando, Florida, resort, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

William Francis Chatel faces charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 years of age.

The first incident happened on March 9 when the girl said a man, later identified by police as Chattel, came up to the child and assaulted her at least twice over the course of her family’s stay at the resort, reporters said in the article. The child later reported the incidents to a parent who allegedly filmed him attempting to swim up to two other unaccompanied children in the lazy river.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

The three-week-long trial in the case of an American orphanage founder accused of sexually abusing multiple boys in Haiti ended Thursday with a guilty verdict.

Michael Geilenfeld, 73, of Colorado, was found guilty on six counts of engaging in illicit sexual contact with minors in a foreign place and one count of traveling from Miami to Haiti for that purpose Thursday in Miami federal court. He faces up to 30 years in prison on each of the charges, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

Geilenfeld was previously offered a plea deal to shorten his sentence but rejected it.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

A teacher with the Broward County School District is facing felony charges after allegedly soliciting an 11th grader, police say.

Lem McKinney, 40, of Broward County, was charged with a second-degree felony Tuesday after police said he solicited a student to engage in sexual conduct via social media. If convicted of the charge, penalties could include a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to 15 years in prison.

McKinney was a social science teacher at J.P. Taravella High School, a public school located in Coral Springs.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

A 17-year-old girl was groped aboard a JetBlue airplane flying from Puerto Rico to Boston by a father of four and photographed the incident as it occurred for police.

Now the man accused of the assault is facing charges.

The man, flying with his wife and children, allegedly reached in between the seat cushions of a young girl in the seat in front of him on Aug. 30. The girl used her cellphone to take pictures as he allegedly reached into her seat.

Continue reading
Badges
Badges
Contact Information
Miami Office
2350 S Dixie Hwy
Miami, FL 33133
Phone: (305) 854-4900
Fax: (305) 854-8266
Toll Free: (800) 836-6400
Key West Office
615-1/2 Whitehead St
Key West, FL 33040
Toll Free: (800) 836-6400
E-Mail: info@leesfield.com
Orlando / Central Florida Office
By appointments only
Toll Free: (800) 836-6400
E-Mail: info@leesfield.com

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2016 – 2025, Leesfield & Partners
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design