CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Cape Coral police arrested a registered sex offender for failing to comply with state-mandated registration requirements. Investigators said they discovered the man had been attempting to lure real estate professionals to vacant homes.
Hear what a real estate professional told FOX 4's Bella Line about realtor safety:
Tracey Ramirez, 58, was taken into custody Sept. 9 and booked into the Lee County Jail.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office Sexual Predator Unit said it determined that Ramirez had been using a phone number for more than a month without reporting it, as required by Florida law. Ramirez was required to register his new number within 48 hours and failed to do so.
Beyond the registration violation, detectives with the Cape Coral Police Department's Special Victims Unit were investigating troubling behaviors. Detectives said they spoke with multiple local realtors who reported that Ramirez attempted to lure real estate professionals to vacant homes under false pretenses.
"He was grabbing one of the cards off of their desk, trying to lure them under false pretenses, to go to these different places, pretending he was going to buy a house to get these women alone," said Mercedes Simonds with Cape Coral Police Department's Public Affairs.
Simonds said thankfully nothing happened to the realtors, but they want people to be aware.
"We're in a business where we meet strangers every day, and we just have to protect ourselves," said Karen Borrelli, President of the Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association.
Borrelli said Florida realtors have access to an app that checks a client's criminal history, but extra caution is always wise.
"One of the things that some of the realtors are doing is they're taking a pair of boots or shoes and they're leaving them outside the house so that it appears that more than one person is in the home," said Borrelli.
Borrelli says the Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association is hosting a safety class for real estate professionals on Friday.
Detectives said they also discovered concerning writings with references to underage children and inappropriate interactions with women and young girls. While not all these findings resulted in additional charges, they underscore a critical need for public caution and awareness, police said.
The Cape Coral Police Department urges real estate professionals and the public to remain vigilant when interacting with prospective clients or unfamiliar contacts. Individuals in professions that involve meeting strangers in vacant or isolated locations should practice caution and recognize red flags.
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