Sex Offender Caught By ICE’s HSI Division Found Guilty of Attempting to Lure 14-Year-Old Orlando Girl Into Sex

Yesterday, AOC tweeted out multiple times a condemnation of ICE, even claiming that “it’s astounding” that “abolishing ICE is controversial.” She asked, “Where’s the line?”

It’s astounding that after a massive family separation operation, mass sexual assault of detainees, trapping immigrants in COVID-infected detention centers, and now reports of mass hysterectomies (which the US has done before), abolishing ICE is controversial.

Where’s the line?

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 16, 2020

Meanwhile, the agency issued a press release Monday about how a case that was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office reached a conclusion.

US Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announced on Friday that a federal jury found Vince Edward Lasane (48, Orlando) guilty of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and committing the offense while required to register as a sex offender under Florida law.

Lasane, who was indicted on November 13, 2019, faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison and his sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 30, 2020.

HSI Orlando Assistant Special Agent in Charge David J. Pezzutti said about the case that “This repeat child predator will likely spend the rest of his natural life in prison for his systematic abuse of children. Thanks to law enforcement teamwork and the cooperation of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the children in our communities will be safer today.”

From The ICE Press Release:

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in 2007, Lasane was convicted of attempted sexual battery on a child under the age of 12. As part of his sentence, the court designated Lasane a sexual predator and ordered him to register as a sex offender in the State of Florida for life.

In September 2019, Lasane met a 14-year-old girl on a social networking website. During the next five weeks, Lasane enticed and persuaded the girl to engage in sexual activity, communicating with her through text messages and phone calls. In late October, Lasane arranged to meet the girl at a restaurant in Orlando, which was within walking distance of the apartment where she had been staying. Lasane assured the girl that he would wear a condom so that she would not get pregnant. After attending his court-ordered sexual offender treatment meeting, Lasane traveled to the location to meet the child. When Lasane arrived, law enforcement officers arrested him. The officers found a condom and the cellphone Lasane had used to communicate with the child in his pocket. The 14-year-old girl was actually a law enforcement officer acting in an undercover capacity.

It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable with the office of Middle District Florida United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez.