A Kenyan politician was among the 12 men arrested in the US on Monday after attempting to solicit sex from someone they believed to be an underage girl.
In a multi-agency sting operation, the Eden Prairie Police Department in Minnesota said that the men believed they were arranging to pay for sex with a girl under the age of 18, but were actually interacting with an undercover detective.
Abdullahi Yussuf Sheikh Nur, 46, had vied for a parliamentary seat in 2022. He was unsuccessful.
According to police, the men arrested range in age from 24 to 46 and live across the Twin Cities metro area, with one from Wisconsin. The department said the suspects believed they were meeting a juvenile for commercial sex and were arrested upon arrival at a designated location in Eden Prairie.
In the press release, Eden Prairie Police said detectives have taken part in 38 sting operations around the Twin Cities in the last nine years.
According to court documents, Nur continued to communicate with the undercover officer even after being told that she was underage. Nur was arrested at a golf course in possession of $250 in cash and a mobile phone.
The police said that Nur had contacted the undercover officer via an online advert, and that he had continued to communicate with her even after she had told him that she was 17.
“The undercover officer told Nur after he reached out that she was younger, "almost 18" and that the ad" will be taken down if I say 17." Nur continued to arrange to meet the undercover officer,” court documents stated.
The charges say that for all these men, a confirmatory text was sent by officers to the number used by the men to communicate with the undercover officer, and the texts came through on all the men's phones.
The felony charge, prostitution involving a person reasonably believed to be between 16 and 17 years old, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine under Minnesota law.
