Mattawa man charged with offering Moxee teens money for sex

Jun. 1—Yakima County prosecutors charged a Mattawa man with offering two Moxee teens money for sex.

Isidro Cruz-Amaro, who has a pending second-degree rape charge in Grant County, was charged in Yakima County Superior Court with two counts each of communicating with minors for immoral purposes, luring and commercial sex abuse of minors.

Two 15-year-old girls told Moxee police that they were at the Super 7 Store, 300 W. Seattle Ave., around 2:30 p.m.May 23 when they were approached by a man who gave them a note asking them to text him, that he had an offer for them and was willing to pay, according to a probable cause affidavit.

When the girls texted him, he asked the girls if they wanted a "sugar daddy" and asked the pair to spend a half-hour with him for $500, the affidavit said. He said he wanted to watch the girls make out with each other, and sent a photo of a bundle of cash, the affidavit said.

Police identified Cruz-Amaro through his cell phone number and store security camera images that matched his driver license photo, the affidavit said. The surveillance video showed him approach the girls and give them a note and then go out to his pickup truck and drive to a credit union parking lot, where he waited for a half-hour before driving back to the store, where he waited for an hour before driving away.

Cruz-Amaro was detained in Grant County, where he was on pretrial release, and Moxee police booked him into the Yakima County jail. At a May 25 preliminary appearance hearing, Judge Jared Boswell set bail at $100,000 and barred him from having contact with any child under the age of 18, including the two victims.

Reach Donald W. Meyers at dmeyers@yakimaherald.com.

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