Feds target 'sex tourists'

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. government is cracking down on Americans who allegedly travel abroad to engage in sex with children.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Jorge Muentes, who allegedly thought he had booked a package trip to Costa Rica and 24 hours with a teen prostitute, was caught in an FBI sting.

When Muentes attempted to board his flight from Miami International Airport to San Jose on Nov. 15, federal authorities arrested the 48-year-old West Palm Beach resident.

Investigators said Muentes called the FBI's undercover travel agency in September 2007 responding to an advertisement in an adult magazine offering vacations with "clean, fun-loving companions of varying ages."

Muentes goes on trial Monday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the newspaper reported.

Authorities say since 2003 they have charged more than 70 alleged offenders attempting to go overseas for underage sex in such places as Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines and Costa Rica.

Muentes' attorney, David Markus, told the court that the charges against his client are for "a person's mere thought to do something abroad."

He wrote, "I'm all for catching child predators. The problem is instead of netting the real criminals, this sting draws in innocent people like Jorge Muentes."