A prominent “woke” New York City artist, who “identifies” as “non-binary queer,” has been caught trying to rape a 9-year-old boy, according to police.
35-year-old Efrem Zelony-Mindell was arrested on Friday for trying to arrange sexual intercourse with a 9-year-old boy in NYC.
Zelony-Mindell was arrested and charged with attempted enticement of a minor and possession and distribution of child pornography.
Prosecutors allege that Zelony-Mindell contacted an FBI undercover agent, believing he was the father of a 9-year-old boy.
He then tried to arrange to have anal intercourse with the young child.
“Zelony-Mindell allegedly attempted to engage in sexual activity with a nine-year-old boy,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement about the arrest.
“The protection of children from predation remains of critical importance to this Office, and we will continue to use our resources and work with our law enforcement partners to bring offenders to justice.”
The statement said that Zelony-Mindell contacted an undercover FBI agent on an encrypted messaging service in April and made it clear “in graphic and unambiguous terms, his desire to engage in sexual activity with minor children.”
Zelony-Mindell met the undercover agent on Friday on a street corner in Manhattan.
The “woke” artist attended the meeting with the expectation that “the father” would take Zelony-Mindell to meet the 9-year-old boy and sexually assault him while he was partially drugged.
Instead, Zelony-Mindell was arrested.
The suspect was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography based on images and videos that were sent to the undercover agent during their interactions.
Zelony-Mindell faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for the enticement charge and maximum sentences of 20 years for each of the child pornography charges if he is convicted.
Court documents indicated that Zelony-Mindell allegedly admitted to possessing and distributing child pornography.
“As alleged, Mr. Zelony-Mindell’s actions are nearly unfathomable,” said FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll.
“Today’s action should serve as a reminder to anyone who seeks to prey on children – the FBI Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue you and hold you accountable.”
In an interview that Zelony-Mindell posted to a YouTube video account, the suspect issued preferred pronouns of “they/them” and identified as a “white non-binary queer” on a homepage.
The photographer was a contributor at Vice News, for which he once wrote a story promoting the “iconic” photography of an underage prostitute in Seattle.