Man living in country illegally indicted on coercion charge

A man from Guatemala living in Penn Hills illegally has been indicted on charges of attempted sexual coercion of a young girl who turned out to be an undercover agent.

Horacio Miranda-Mejia, 26, was being held in U.S. custody on one count of attempted sexual coercion of a minor and a count of illegal re-entry by a removed alien after being previously deported.

He had been charged in June by a complaint brought by the FBI; a grand jury indicted him on July 21.

According to the complaint, an undercover agent in June assumed the online identity of a 12-year-old girl living in Pittsburgh. Mr. Miranda-Mejia contacted the undercover agent on June 22. Initially, his picture on the app was of a leg wearing green shoes. He later changed his profile picture to that of a Hispanic male.

The undercover agent traced the phone number he was using, identified Mr. Miranda-Mejia and determined he had previous dealings with the Department of Homeland Security. DHS provided a picture of him, which looked similar to his online profile.

Mr. Miranda-Mejia began conversing with the undercover agent on a messenger app, thinking he was talking to a 12-year-old girl and began asking increasingly sexual questions, according to the complaint.

On June 15, law officers were waiting as he arrived at an apartment complex where the undercover agent said she lived and took him into custody.

He will be arraigned July 29.