Rockledge man sentenced to prison in human trafficking. child porn case, Cocoa police say

A 27-year-old man who faced up to 300 years in state prison on charges he carried on a sexual relationship with a missing 15-year-old girl, going from hotel to hotel while shopping illicit videos of the pair on social media, will instead spend 12 years behind bars.

Temrom Juan McFarlane, of Rockledge, pled guilty to 60 counts of child pornography, human trafficking, interference with custody, promoting sexual performance by a child and use of a child in a sexual performance stemming from the 2021 case. Prosecutors reached a plea agreement that allowed the sentences for each to run concurrently.

McFarlane will instead serve 12 years in state prison and receive 10 years of probation, records show.

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“Unfortunately, this kind of activity is more common that people realize,” said Detective Chris Zuniga of the Cocoa Police Department about human trafficking cases.

“There have been cases of children looking for attention through social media and trying to gain that attention from older adults that they shouldn’t be speaking with. Parents and guardians need to be aware of the actions of their teenagers and children."

Florida ranks third in the nation for human trafficking cases, with half of the victims being minors, according to Florida Health, the state agency tasked with raising awareness about the issue.

Investigators said McFarlane — who will also be registered as a sex offender for the remainder of his life — kept videos and photos of the teen on his phone that showed him engaged in numerous sexual acts. McFarlane’s face could also be seen in the illicit videos with the underage girl, reports show.

Officers used a search warrant to secure the phone and found a number of the explicit videos and pictures they say were used to make money with online clients.

The case unfolded Jan. 12, 2021, when a Cocoa police search for a missing Palm Bay foster care teen led to the Budget Inn Hotel at 4150 W. King St. Both the runaway — found outside the hotel room — and an older man, later named as McFarlane, were taken into custody for questioning. McFarlane told police that he had known the girl was underage and that a family member confronted him.

The teen — then 10 weeks pregnant — told investigators that she was living in a Palm Bay group home called Friends of Children and Families when she first met McFarlane in June 2019.

McFarlane, then 24, would repeatedly call the victim on behalf of another person she had met. The teen and McFarlane began texting and communicating through Snapchat and Instagram. By September, the two were dating, smoking marijuana and taking Percocet and pain relievers. McFarlane supplied the drugs, reports show.

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By December 2020, the girl was reported missing to police.

Police said the pair began having sex and taking drugs at various hotels in Satellite Beach, Cocoa and Palm Bay, living off of his stimulus check and unemployment benefits he received after being laid off during the pandemic, reports show. McFarlane  also used the teen’s social media accounts to get money from "clidents" by sending nude photos and videos of the pair’s sexual activities. Police said the teen believed the two made up to $35,000 from the illicit social media scam.

The seized phone also contained several of the text messages from potential clients, with Cashapp memos reading for the "daddy package" and other notes.

Police warned that parents and guardians should be mindful of social media and the access it provides outsiders to teens.

"There are definitely other victims out there that get caught up in similar situations, where someone takes advantage of them for profit," Zuniga said.

"Or someone who makes them believe that they genuinely care for them or a friendship of some kind where they will offer assistance of some kind  to these young women — or men — and takes advantage of their situation."

J.D. Gallop is a Criminal Justice/Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Rockledge man avoids 300 years in prison after plea in Cocoa sex case