Broward man sexually abused two teen girls in car, police say
A 22-year-old man who police say sexually abused two teenage girls in his car in Broward County may have targeted other children, according to authorities.
Ternell Dejuan Cartagena remained at the county’s Paul Rein Detention Facility on Thursday with no bond after pleading not guilty, jail records show. The Deerfield Beach man is facing a slew of charges, including two counts of sexual battery of a juvenile.
According to Coconut Creek police, it started
Jan. 14 when one of the girls called her 14-year-old ex-boyfriend to smoke vape pens at the Promenade at Coconut Creek shopping mall, 4467
Lyons Rd., and he arrived with Cartagena and another person.
Investigators say the boy’s former girlfriend sent $50 to Cartagena via Apple Pay in exchange for vape pens. Cartagena’s arrest warrant states he purchased the vape pens and exchanged phone numbers with her in case she wanted more.
But later that night, investigators say, Cartagena sent a voice note to the girl he sold the vape pens to, saying he wanted to have sex with her and her friend. Authorities did not release the girls’ ages.
Cartagena later came back to the shopping mall in his 2011 Hyundai Elantra, and he sexually abused them in his car, with one of them vomiting on him, police said.
Investigators said Cartagena also sexually abused one of the girls in his car in the parking lot of Township Plaza, 4400 W. Sample Rd., between a McDonald’s and a daycare facility, before he took her back to her father’s house, where she had sneaked through her bedroom window.
The next day, Jan. 15, Cartagena sexually abused her in the parking lot of a Coconut Creek apartment complex where her friend lives, she told police. On Jan. 18, the girl said it happened again but in her bedroom after Cartagena, whom she knew as Nuk, sneaked through her window as her family members slept.
Cartagena’s attorneys did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.
Investigators said Cartagena also invited the girl to have sexual encounters with other adults and claimed he would have sex with adults as well as boys and girls, sending her explicit photos of other men’s genitalia, but she said no.
The parents of both girls provided authorities with text conversations, photos and videos found in their daughters’ cellphones.
On Feb. 9, police arrested Cartagena, who is also charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, online solicitation of a child and several other crimes.
“Based on the evidence at this time, it appears he may have had contact with other juveniles before his arrest,” the police said in a statement. “Detectives are working to determine if there are additional victims in this case.
Anyone with information can call the Coconut Creek Police Department at 954973-6700