TEMPE, Ariz. - Police arrested a man after he tried to lure a minor for sex, according to a police report.
Jose Antonio Minjares, 30, was allegedly communicating with a boy he thought was 14 years old on a dating app and told the boy he wanted to kiss him and teach him sex, court documents say.
Minjares drove to Tempe to meet the boy where he was met by detectives, who were posing as a 14-year-old boy on the dating app.
According to court documents, Minjares told police he thought the boy he was meeting was 21 years old and because he did not understand English very well, he did not know the boy told him he was 14.
Police said in their report it did not appear Minjares had difficulty messaging in English as their conversations were all in English.
Minjares was an employee at Southwest Key, where he organized activities for immigrant children 2-10 years old.
According to Southwest Key, Minjares was an employee for two weeks before he was arrested. The facility says Minjares passed all background checks. He is currently suspended without pay and his employment status is under review.
The facility said it is working to make sure no child was harmed by him in the two weeks he was an employee there.
Full statement from Southwest Key:
“In compliance with federal and state regulations, all Arizona employees are required to pass a thorough background check before joining our organization. We review criminal histories, driving records and sex offender registries. This employee passed all of these checks. Since learning of his arrest, we have reported it to licensing authorities and have suspended him without pay pending review for termination of employment. This employee was only with us for two weeks and these allegations do not relate to his work with us or anyone in our facility. However, we are working to immediately confirm no child was harmed by him in any way during the two weeks he was an employee.”
