MIAMI — His job was to speak for the mayor of one of Florida’s largest cities, but police say 48-year-old Rene Pedrosa used his position to lure a teenage boy to his office.
According to the arrest report, Pedrosa met the 16-year-old on Instagram and invited him to City Hall on Nov. 25 to interview for a website design job.
During the interview in a conference room, Police say Pedrosa groped the teen over his clothing and “asked him if he was nervous.”
When Pedrosa was escorting him out, the report states he grabbed the teen’s hand, kissed him on the lips and grabbed his rear end.
Then, police say he placed the teen’s hand on his groin and forcefully kissed him again before the teen managed to pull away and leave the room.
But, according to the report, Pedrosa wasn’t finished.
Police say he contacted the teen two days later on WhatsApp and requested a picture of his private parts.
The report states the teen complied, then Pedrosa allegedly sent a picture of himself.
Investigators searched Pedrosa’s home on Jan. 28 and say they found a cell phone with the picture the teen had sent to him along with several text message exchanges between the two.
Pedrosa is charged with promoting sexual performance by a child, computer pornography, electronic transmission harmful to minors and battery. He’s being held on a $26,500 bond.
The Miami Herald reports he resigned several days before his arrest, telling Mayor Francis Suarez he was involved in some kind of “personal misconduct.”
The mayor released the following statement to CBS Miami:
“I have been made aware that Rene Pedrosa was taken into custody. I want to thank the Miami Police Department for expeditiously dealing with this matter. The residents of Miami deserve the highest standards from municipal employees. I will always work to ensure that my administration delivers accountability and takes action to uphold those standards. I have spoken to the mother of the reported victim and assured her that this is handled to the full extent of the law. My thoughts are with the reported victim and the family and we expect the legal process to take its course.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Pedrosa was a former reporter at the Spanish-language news station América TV.
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