ORLANDO, Fla. — A JetBlue Airways flight attendant from Orlando has been charged with attempting to entice a minor for sex during an undercover sting, a federal complaint says.
- Jeffrey Aronofsky arrested at Lake Mary hotel on Friday
- Investigator: Man talked about abusing boy in Dominican Republic
- Federal judge ordered Aronofsky to be held until trial
Jeffrey Aronofsky, 53, was arrested Friday after showing up at a Lake Mary hotel, where he allegedly planned to have sex with an 8-year-old boy while his father watched, federal prosecutors said in a 14-page criminal complaint.
The apparent father was really an undercover officer for the FBI, the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida described.
During a detention hearing in Orlando on Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas B. Smith ordered Aronofsky to be held until his trial, saying in his order that “no conditions or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person and the community.”
Aronofsky is being held at the Orange County Jail.
Messages to JetBlue Airways were not immediately returned Tuesday. On Wednesday, a spokesman released this statement:
"JetBlue has become aware of very disturbing allegations against one of our Crewmembers," Derek Dombrowski, manager of corporate communications for JetBlue Airways told Spectrum News 13 in an email. "We are fully cooperating with law enforcement and have launched our own internal investigation. Safety and integrity are among our core values at JetBlue, and we take any potential departure from these very seriously."
An unidentified informant for the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol tipped off officials on October 7, saying he was in contact with a man on an online dating site who claimed he had sex with multiple children, some reportedly as young as 6.
The informant said the man sent him photos of himself. He later identified that person as Aronofsky.
In chats between the informant and Aronofsky, the defendant said he liked incest and performed a sex act on a drugged 6-year-old boy in the Dominican Republic while his father watched, the FBI agent said.
The boy had consumed adult-strength Benadryl, Aronofsky said.
The FBI agent, posing as the informant, told Aronofsky he had a friend named Steve who sexually abused his own 8-year-old son. Later, the agent posed as Steve and invited Aronofsky to sexually abuse his son.
Aronofsky said he was excited but worried about the boy having a sexually transmitted disease and feared the boy would tell someone about the abuse.
The criminal complaint alleges Aronofsky went into great detail about the sex acts he wanted to perform on the boy, including asking whether the child had ever consumed Benadryl to relax.
Aronofsky arrived at the unspecified Lake Mary hotel at 10:27 a.m. Friday in his gray, convertible Mini Cooper and sent a text to the officer that he had arrived. Officers arrested him.
Later, Aronofsky told agents he been chatting with a man named Steve online about his 8-year-old son. When asked whether he intended to perform sex acts on the boy, Aronofsky remained silent and asked for an attorney.
Officers searched his car and found a stun gun.