With gun in tow, man comes to Miami-Dade to meet 13-year-old, police say

DORAL, Fla. – A man from southwest Florida came to Miami-Dade County to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old girl — but he was talking to an undercover detective the whole time, police said.

To top it off, police said Enrique Miguel Santamaria, 29, of Lehigh Acres, also brought a gun to the would-be encounter.

Authorities arrested him Thursday at the Miami-Dade Police Department Midwest District station in Doral.

According to MDPD, the investigation began on Jan. 8, when the undercover detective, posing as the teenager, posted to a “social media application” about “school.”

Police said Santamaria responded, “Want me to pick you up?”

The undercover detective said she was “prob 2 young for you,” and after telling Santamaria her age, he told her he was “okay with it if you are,” the arrest report states.

Police said Santamaria then asked the girl to go to breakfast. They said messages over the following weeks would take a lewd turn.

The report states Santamaria went “into detail” about various sexual fantasies.

Police said Santamaria hatched a plan for the girl to skip school so she could meet him Thursday for a “date.”

He would then take the girl to a car wash, “where nobody could see them,” so the teen “could perform oral sex on him,” the report states.

Police said when Santamaria came to South Florida, he was instead greeted by detectives.

Authorities said they found a loaded gun and a loaded magazine in his waistband.

The report states Santamaria confessed to coming to Miami-Dade to meet a 13-year-old and told detectives he viewed child sexual abuse material, which he told them they could find on his device.

Santamaria also said he used chat applications to swap child sexual abuse material with others, police said.

He also admitted, police said, to having a three-year sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl when he was 23.

A judge found probable cause to charge Santamaria with traveling to meet a minor and possession of a weapon while committing an offense, both felonies.

He was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $12,500 bond as of Friday afternoon, according to jail records.

Local 10 News asked Miami-Dade police whether authorities also intend to add any child pornography charges.

“The detectives are still working all of the investigative leads that this arrest has created and more charges are possible for this defendant,” Detective Andre Martin, an MDPD spokesperson, said Friday.