Broward man demanded 11-year-old to undress on video or he’d kill him, deputies say
A Broward man spent months grooming an 11-year-old boy on popular messaging app Discord before he suddenly threatened to kill him if he didn’t perform sex acts on video — which he succumbed to out of fear, deputies say. The 29-year-old is now behind bars.
On June 1, Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies were alerted to the 11-year-old being sexually “exploited” on Discord, an instant messaging platform, an arrest report read. Valentino McFarland had met the young boy on the app and began “grooming” over the past several months.
McFarland would buy food to be delivered to the boy’s house and offered to give him money to get a gaming console.
In mid-May, McFarland ordered the boy to turn on his video camera and masturbate, or else he would kill him. The 11-year-old was scared for his life as he knew McFarland had his address, the report read.
The boy did as he was told, and McFarland watched, taking a screenshot. He would later send it to another person, who, in turn, told the 11-year-old and called the authorities.
Detectives interviewed the young boy and discovered McFarland had allegedly sent a picture of his penis to him the same day the video was taken, the report read.
Authorities set up a “controlled call” between McFarland and the boy’s mother, where he initially denied the serious allegations, claiming instead that the 11-year-old had spontaneously exposed himself to McFarland.
On June 5, McFarland was arrested and charged by deputies. Per detectives, he admitted to “soliciting” the child to turn on his camera to commit the sexual act, and also sending the graphic picture to the boy.
McFarland is facing charges of solicitation of a minor, transmission of harmful material to a minor and violation of probation. He was serving a probation sentence for a robbery at the time of his arrest.
As of Thursday, he still remained in the Paul Rein Detention Facility, records show.
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