Miramar Fire Rescue civilian employee arrested for allegedly luring out-of-state minor for sexual relationship
FORT LAUDERDALE — A Miramar Fire Rescue civilian employee was arrested this week for allegedly luring an out-of-state minor to have a sexual relationship with him.
Julio Ramon, 56, was charged with transmission of materials harmful to minors, solicitation of a minor and the unlawful use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony. According to Miramar Fire Rescue, he was a logistics technician employed by the agency.
In his bond court appearance on Thursday morning, it was revealed that Ramon had worked with Miramar Fire Rescue for the past decade.
Miramar Fire Rescue is taking the allegations seriously as they continue cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation.
"We remain committed to serving the public with professionalism and will continue to focus on delivering our services effectively to the highest standards," the agency said.
The investigation
The investigation began on Dec. 11, 2024, after a Miramar Police detective with the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force was contacted by an out-of-state law enforcement agency regarding Ramon's alleged criminal activities.
According to the arrest documents, the out-of-state agency told Miramar Police it had been looking into an online social networking forum consisting of posts and messages from an "age gap" group, where Ramon had allegedly sent a selfie of himself wearing a Miramar Fire Rescue bucket hat and asking a presumably underaged girl if she "would like to be in a relationship with an older guy," telling her that she should "swing by" the fire station to meet up with him.
In other message excerpts, Ramon had allegedly suggested that he would like to meet with the girl, asking for pictures, and at one point, discussed committing sexual acts with her, the arrest documents said.
After further investigation, Miramar Police learned of Ramon's employment with Miramar Fire Rescue.
Sometime later, Miramar Police took Ramon into custody following a traffic stop and served a search warrant at his home. After reading him his Miranda rights, he refused to speak with police, the arrest documents said.
Ramon was then arrested and taken to the Miramar Police Department before being transferred to the Broward County Main Jail.
