A transgender activist in New York was arrested last month for soliciting a minor for sex. Lailani Muniz is a prominent trans rights and HIV advocate of the Bronx LGBTQ community. A criminal complaint against the 39-year-old Latinx stated that she had interacted with a dating profile of a 14-year-old on Grindr in March.
According to the Bronx Times, the purported dating profile of the teen was under the account name of “Josh”. The account was actually being run by a man under the guise of “FM” who works for a nonprofit organization seeking to expose persons who solicit sex with minors. Screenshots of the conversation were published on FM’s Instagram account NYC Creeps Spotlight where Muniz acknowledged the age of “Josh” before soliciting oral sex. The “Josh” profile stated he identified as a girl, but FM said he was posing as a teenage boy.
Muniz arranged the meet-up at an apartment building in Bedford Park on Oct. 20 at 9:30 p.m. A 20-minute YouTube videowas posted by FM which captured the details of their meeting. By the time Muniz walked into the front door of their agreed rendezvous location, she was met by FM. Muniz confirmed she was meeting up with “Josh” and when FM confronted her as to why she was meeting up with someone she knew as a minor, Muniz tried to wiggle out of the situation and denied her intentions.
"Dude, I’ve got the chat logs. You’ve been talking to me the whole time," FM shot back.
In the criminal complaint, Muniz told the police that she had shared conversations with “Josh” where “it got sexual, it got racy” and they stopped talking for a short period. “We started talking again and I agreed to go and meet him. He told me to bring condoms,” Muniz explained.
The Latinx trans activist is facing five charges, which include attempted forcible touching, attempted endangering the welfare of a child and attempted sexual misconduct. Muniz is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 2. During the Pride Month kickoff this year, Muniz was honored for her advocacy at the pride flag-raising ceremony at Bronx Borough Hall.
