Man tried to sexually abuse 15-year-old who was babysitting his son, Miami cops say
Lester Julian Tellez landed behind bars this week after making multiple attempts to sexually abuse his 15-year-old babysitter at a Miami home, police said.
The young girl, however, was shielded from his most explicit, sexual messages: in fact, in an act of “tremendous courage,” she promptly informed her adult sister — and that’s when police swooped in to stage a trap that Tellez would swiftly jump on, records show.
On Monday afternoon, Telez made an unannounced visit to pick up his son, who police say he hadn’t seen in two years. Despite being irritated by the impromptu notice, the teen’s older sister, with whom he had been communicating, directed her younger sibling to let the boy go shopping with his father.
Sometime later, Tellez, a 44-year-old Georgia man, returned to drop off his son, and contacted the 15-year-old to tell her about the shopping trip. He then told her he would pay her $2,000 if she would spend the night with him.
She immediately told him not to speak to her in that manner and hung up the phone. Refusing to take no for an answer, Tellez would later message her that day saying,”2000 for us to spend the whole night,” the report read. She promptly took a screenshot, waited for her sister to come home and showed her Tellez’s illicit proffer.
The older sister lambasted Tellez over the phone before calling the Miami Police Department and reporting the crime. Authorities were quick to investigate. Within a few hours of the Monday call, they read the message and began a sting operation.
Pretending to be the young girl by using her number, a Miami police officer opened the conversation with, “You know I am only about to turn 16.”
Tellez proceeded to double down on his desires, adding, “Let’s make love” followed by more aggressive, increasingly vulgar sexual demands.
As he continued, he told the officer, whom he thought was the young girl, that he was at the hospital with his dying grandmother, the report read.
He even accompanied that message with proof: a GPS marker and a picture of an older woman in a hospital bed.
Authorities decided they had enough to arrest him after Tellez repeatedly asked for naked pictures and asserted his willingness to send the money. Officers confronted him at Palmetto General Hospital and cuffed him.
Tellez is facing charges of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child, promoting sexual performance by a child and soliciting or seducing a child to engage in sexual conduct. As of Tuesday night, he remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
“The safety and well-being of the community, particularly its youth, remain a top priority for law enforcement,” Miami police said in a statement. “We urge anyone with additional information about this case or similar incidents to come forward.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 9:14 PM.
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