Cops: Man Caught in Child Predator Sting at Delray Beach Dollar Store

Christopher Lee Almendares (Photo: Palm Beach County Jail)

A 36-year-old Pembroke Pines man was arrested after authorities say he drove to Delray Beach to meet someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl for sex, according to a police report filed in court this week.

Christopher Lee Almendares was taken into custody May 9, 2026, and charged with traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sex act and unlawful use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony, records show. The meetup with the decoy was a sting coordinated by a volunteer social media-based group known as “561 Predator Catchers.”

According to the report, Almendares began communicating through a social media group with an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old girl named “Mia.” Police said he arranged to meet the person at a Dollar Tree store on W. Linton Blvd. around 5:30 p.m. He allegedly identified himself in a series of text messages in which he described the clothing he would be wearing to the meetup, including a selfie taken on the way.

Investigators reported that Almendares sent explicit messages discussing oral sex and vaginal sex and traveled from Pembroke Pines to the agreed location. When officers approached him near the store, he allegedly admitted he had come to meet the person he believed was 14 years old for sex, the affidavit states.

A review of his phone, with his consent, allegedly confirmed the explicit conversations with the decoy, police said. Some earlier messages appeared to have been deleted, according to the report.

Almendares remained lodged in the Palm Beach County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of $150,000 combined bail for the three charges.