4 Boston-Area Men Charged In Child Sex Trafficking Attempt

BOSTON, MA — Four Boston-area men — including a former Tufts Medical Center doctor — have been charged after attempting to pay to have sex with underage girls, according to federal prosecutors.

The four men, including former Tufts doctor Sadeq Ali Quraishi, 45, of Boston, David Cannon, 59, of Lexington, Dmitri McKenzie, 27, of Boston, and Misael Fabian Medina, 37, were ordered held after being arrested and charged last week. All the men have been charged with attempted sex trafficking of a child, except Medina, who was charged with attempted sex trafficking of a child under age 14.

Federal prosecutors allege that each of the men responded to online ads offering sex with 12 and 14-year-old girls. The men all went so far as to travel to local hotels to meet with the people selling the children for sex, according to prosecutors, before they were arrested by undercover law enforcement.

"We need to dispel the myths about who actually commits this horrific crime. The perpetrators can be white collar professionals who live in nice suburban neighborhoods. Many are married. All put their own sexual gratification over the trauma and harm inflicted on vulnerable, innocent child victims," U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a news release Monday.

Tufts Medical Center fired Ali Quraishi on Friday after the allegations became public.

All four men are set to appear Tuesday in federal court Tuesday for detention hearings. The men are facing minimum 10-year prison terms, although the charge of trafficking a child under age 14 carries a harsher 15-year minimum term.