4 arrested after allegedly attempting to have sex with 14-year-old girl
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office has released the names of four Kansas City metro men arrested earlier this month for allegedly attempting to have sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Jorge Arguello-Benitez, 48, of Kansas City, Missouri; Simon Gomez-Cruz, 22, of Kansas City, Kansas; Elpidio Lopez-Alonzo, 23, of Kansas City, Missouri; and Nicholas S Meisenhelter, 32, of Shawnee, Kansas, each face one count of attempted enticement of a child, according to a news release from Clay County Sheriff’s Office Public Relations Manager Sarah Boyd.
All four men believed they were corresponding with a 14-year-old girl online, according to the release. The men were actually corresponding with undercover Clay County Sheriff’s Office detectives.
When the men attempted to meet the girl in person, deputies arrested them, according to the news release.
The arrests were part of an Aug. 7-8 operation led by Northland law agencies to combat human trafficking.
As a result of the operation, seven suspects were arrested and booked for allegedly attempting to purchase sex services with a child. Three were arrested on allegations of attempting to buy sex. Two more were arrested on allegations of promoting and engaging people to engage in prostitution, according to a previous news release from the Ray County Sheriff’s Office.
The operation was designed to “reduce the demand for victimization of victim-survivors in sex trafficking in these communities” and to provide services to potential victims.
