A Vaughan man is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl after luring her over her cell phone.
Investigators say a uniform York Regional Police officer noticed the man's car parked at a motel near Keele Street and Highway 407 with an expired validation sticker Thursday afternoon.
When the officers returned to the area around 4:30 p.m., they noticed the 31-year-old man leaving the motel and pulled him over. That's when police say they noticed a 15-year-old girl in a school uniform sitting in the back seat.
Believing the girl may be a sex worker, the uniform officers called the Drugs and Vice unit to investigate.
Investigators allege the man contacted the girl through BlackBerry Messenger, more commonly known as BBM, and proposed that he pay her for sex.
The girl did not even know the man's name, police say, when he allegedly picked her up from school Thursday afternoon and drove her to the motel.
Police say the girl was not paid, but rather they allege the man was driving to the bank to get her the money when he was pulled over.
She was taken to hospital for assessment, then reunited with her family.
Americo Magana, who also goes by Rico, was arrested on several charges, which include: sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching, sexual interference, luring a child for prostitution, obtaining the sexual services of a minor and procuring a person to become a prostitute.
Police released Magana's mugshot on the belief that he may have contacted other girls under similar circumstances.
Magana's arrest comes on the heels of a York Regional Police project aimed at reuniting child sex workers with their families.
Over two months, vice investigators made contact with 31 sex workers in York Region hotels. Nearly a third of them were younger than 18 -- most, police say, lured into the trade by pimps who forced them to work and hand over their earnings.
Anyone with information about Magana, including anyone who may have seen him in or around the motel, is asked to call police at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7817. Anonymous tips can be made through Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-8477, visiting www.1800222tips.com, or by texting YORK and your tip to 274637.
