Two Held Without Bond In Suspected Human Trafficking Case

Two Held Without Bond In Suspected Human Trafficking Case
File photo by Chris Parypa

OCEAN CITY — Two Honduran nationals in the U.S. illegally are being held without bond on rape charges in a suspected human trafficking case.

Around 2:10 a.m. last Thursday, Ocean City Communications received a 911 call from a 13-year-old female juvenile who said she needed the police before the call ended. The 911 call was plotted to the area of 127th Street. Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer searched the area to no avail.

About 40 minutes later, the same female juvenile called 911 again and the call plotted in the area of 144th Street. The Fenwick Island Police Department located the juvenile walking north on Route 1, according to police reports. A background check revealed the female juvenile was listed as missing from Montgomery County and also listed as critically missing from Concord, Calif. The background check also revealed the juvenile was listed as a potential victim of human trafficking.

OCPD detectives interviewed the juvenile, who reportedly told police she and her friend, a 14-year-old juvenile female, had come to Ocean City with two males known to them only as David and Noah, and were staying in a hotel at 112th Street. The victim told police the whole time she and her friend were in Ocean City, Noah and David had been trying to have sex with them, and one of them had a machete in the room.

OCPD detectives met with the second juvenile victim at the hotel on 112th Street, who was in a second-floor room by herself. The second juvenile victim reportedly told detectives she and her friend had come to Ocean City with the two suspects, later identified as Bayron Oviedo-Diaz, 22, and Onan Oviedo-Diaz, 24, both of Silver Spring, Md.

The second female juvenile reportedly told detectives she had sex with Bayron Oviedo-Diaz two days earlier, and that she didn’t want to, but felt obligated to, according to police reports. The victim told police Bayron Oviedo-Diaz knew she was just 14 years old.

The second female victim reportedly told police last Thursday, Onan Oviedo-Diaz pulled out a machete in the hotel room and told her if she did not have sex with him, he was going to kill her, according to police reports. The victim told police she and her friend ran from then hotel room for fear of their lives and walked north on Coastal Highway before they got separated somewhere before the Maryland-Delaware line.

The second juvenile victim was transported to the hospital where a rape kit test confirmed she had recently had intercourse. OCPD detectives found a vehicle matching the description provided in the hotel parking lot at 112th Street. The two victims confirmed the vehicle belonged to the Oviedo-Diaz brothers.

OCPD detectives located Bayron and Onan Oviedo-Dias at the hotel and they were placed under arrest. Onan Oviedo-Diaz reportedly denied having intercourse with either girl. He also told police he had a knife in the hotel room and the two victims probably saw it.

Onan Oviedo-Diaz said he was angry with the two victims because they wanted to leave, but denied threatening them with the machete. The machete was later found in the vehicle’s trunk. Onan Oviedo-Diaz reportedly told detectives he was in the U.S. illegally from Honduras.

Bayron Oviedo-Diaz reportedly told detectives he did have intercourse with the second juvenile female the day before. He reportedly told detectives he did have a machete, but denied his brother had ever threatened the victims with it. Onan Oviedo-Diaz was charged with first-degree assault, attempted first-degree rape and second-degree rape. Bayron Oviedo-Diaz was charged with second-degree rape and second-degree assault. Both men are being held without bond.

About The Author: Shawn Soper

Alternative Text

Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.