Man with ties to Mexico charged with online sex trafficking of Columbia girl under age 15
Officials say a Columbia girl under the age of 15 was the target of online sexual trafficking by a man with ties to the area but an unknown residence.
Francisco Acosta-Flores, 32, was charged Wednesday with 2nd degree sexual trafficking of a child, a crime that carries a penalty up to life in prison.
According to a probable cause statement, police say Acosta-Flores sent text messages of his exposed genitals to the child and enticed her to send photos and videos to him sometime earlier this month.
Court documents say Acosta-Flores is from Mexico but appears to have some ties to the Columbia area. After communication with the child was stopped, police say he sent the girl's mother messages saying he "knows people in Columbia." The woman told police that Acosta-Flores knows where she works, where her kids go to school and "all about (her) life."
Prosecutors requested a warrant for his arrest and asked that he be held without bond on the basis that he is a danger to the victim and is a flight risk based on his ties to Mexico. A judge granted those requests Wednesday.
In addition to the trafficking charge, Acosta-Flores is charged with sexual misconduct involving a child under 15, which is also a felony.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Man charged with sex trafficking of Columbia girl under 15
