Arrest records explain how El Paso County man tried to buy three teenage girls and lured a minor

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - New court records detail what led the El Paso County Sheriff's Office to arrest two people for messaging inappropriately with who they believed was a 13-year-old girl over a messaging app. Records also show how one of those arrested purchased three teenage girls for hundreds of dollars but never received them.

***WARNING: This article includes explicit details involving human trafficking, and sexual language pertaining to minors. Certain quotes and details have been left out of the article due to their graphic nature, and instead, paraphrased.***

Arrest records obtained by KRDO13 show that 41-year-old Brian Borenstein and 32-year-old Joanna Ferguson allegedly messaged with a 13-year-old girl online, who was really a member of Colorado Ped Patrol, an organization that looks to catch people interacting with minors with sexual or inappropriate intent.

Borenstein and Ferguson were charged with Attempted Human Trafficking of a Minor for Sexual Servitude, a Class 3 Felony, and Internet Luring of a Child, a Class 4 Felony by The El Paso County Sheriff's Office (EPCSO) after "Thomas" with Colorado Ped Patrol, confronted Borenstein at his apartment, where the decoy 13-year-old was supposed to be meeting him, and recorded the encounter.

KRDO13 was on scene as Thomas spoke with Borenstein on an outside balcony. Thomas later shared his footage with KRDO13, which showed Borenstein admitting to his messages with the decoy 13-year-old, and also admitting to paying $750 in Bitcoin to purchase two 12-year-olds and a 13-year-old a previous time. He explained, however, that he never received those girls.

Borenstein also admitted, which was evident in those messages, to wanting to take the 13-year-old to a "mistress teacher" who was going to teach her how to perform sexual acts.

The EPCSO confirmed that the footage taken by Thomas, and shared with KRDO13, is tied to the arrests they announced in early October. Thomas' footage, along with a binder full of screenshots between Borenstein and Ferguson and the decoy 13-year-old, was shared with the sheriff's office as evidence in the case. That same day of the encounter with Thomas, Borenstein was taken into an EPCSO cruiser and brought back for an interview.

Arrest records show that Borenstein admitted in that interview, that he believed he was going to have a 13-year-old female come to his home to stay with him. He also showed detectives messages on his phone that lined up with those shared in the binder by Thomas.

Those messages stated he wanted to have sex and rape the 13-year-old and that he was aware of her age. He also said he received foot pictures from her, and that he sent images of his genitalia and other private parts to her. Borenstein repeatedly stated he believed her to be attractive and engaged in sexual messages with who he believed was a 13-year-old. During the confrontation, Thomas never revealed the the 13-year-old was one of his team members.

Borenstein also told detectives that he had attempted to buy three children off the internet several times and explained that he went as far as to pay someone with bitcoin for three young girls. He showed the pictures, of what was clearly children, to the detectives.

Borenstein explained that he went to an address to pick up the children, he was messaged that he needed to pay more money, or they would turn him in to the police. He complied and paid the $750 in bitcoin instead.

Borenstein told the detectives that he was also involved in a situation where a person he found on the internet was going to let him "breed with his young daughters." He said he was supposed to make a final payment to that man in one day.

Meanwhile, Ferguson's arrest document was nearly identical to Borensteins, with much of the evidence overlapping for her involvement in the communication and alleged intent to human traffic the "decoy" 13-year-old.

She also messaged with the decoy, implying she would engage in sexual acts with her and Borenstein, and talked with her knowing that the decoy was claiming to be 13-years-old.

Borenstein also told detectives he knew of 15 girls for sale out of an agency in Denver that had been trafficked to Colorado Springs. He claimed he had information on his computer he could share about it, in addition to names and emails of other people he had talked to, or done business with.

Despite Colorado Ped Patrol's contributions to the investigation, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office wants to remind residents that they should avoid interacting with potential suspects who may be engaging in illegal activities and instead urge residents to contact law enforcement to conduct the investigative process properly.

It was this evidence and these conversations that led to the sheriff's office charging the couple in early October. The two remain at the El Paso County jail on $50,000 bonds each.