A Hollywood man is facing charges after he allegedly tried to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex but who turned out to be an online predator sting group, police said.
Read more Many soccer fans will be drinking alcohol and watching the World Cup. In heat, doing that is risky
Darrien Fleno, 34, was arrested Thursday on charges of traveling to meet a minor after using a computer to lure them and transmission of harmful materials to a minor by electronic device, Broward jail records showed.
According to an arrest report, Hollywood Police responded to a Family Dollar Store on South Federal Highway on Oct. 17, 2025, for a report of a man attempting to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex.
The man, Fleno, exited the store and was taken in for questioning, the report said.
Fleno said he met a female through the Kik app who he claimed told him she was 17 but would be turning 18 the next week, the report said.
He said she asked him for explicit photos repeatedly and he eventually gave in, sending her a photo of his penis, the report said.
Fleno said he began to suspect the person was a scammer but continued to communicate with her and she later asked to meet in person.
Read more Florida enacts emergency rules for screwworm, parasitic fly found in Texas
He later admitted to investigators that the female told him she was 14 during their communications, the report said.
Fleno said he went to the store to meet the female and was approached by two men who said they were who he’d been communicating with and told him there was no 14-year-old, the report said.
One of the men told authorities he’s part of the New York Predhunters organization, which performs online stings to expose suspected predators.
Detectives received the phone used to chat with Fleno in November and found messages in which the person he was speaking with said they were 14, the report said.
There were multiple text messages in which the topic of age was discussed, and Fleno made multiple sexual comments about what he wanted to do with her at a hotel, the report said.
Fleno was booked into jail, where he was being held on a $100,000 bond, records showed.
Read more WATCH LIVE: Officials discuss public safety, human trafficking task force ahead of FIFA World Cup