Man charged with child sex trafficking arrested
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A man who was charged in September with child sex trafficking was booked into the Boone County Jail on Tuesday night.
Julian Velez, 19, was charged with second-degree child sex trafficking and child enticement. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. Casenet indicates his address as Columbia. However, online jail records show his address as Broadway, North Carolina.
An initial court appearance was held Wednesday and a motion to dismiss the child enticement charge was filed by Velez’s attorney, Kevin Lorenz. The motion states the enticement charge states it is for an actor of 21 years old when Velez is 19.
The probable cause statement says law enforcement viewed a message thread between Velez and the victim. The mother of the victim allegedly sent law enforcement a link to the website TikTok, but it appeared to be deleted, the probable cause statement says.
Messages allegedly showed the victim pleading with Velez to not post the content of the video on the social media application. Velez then demanded the victim to send him inappropriate photos.
The probable cause statement says law enforcement interviewed Velez over the phone and he allegedly confirmed having the phone number used to communicate with the victim.
