California Man Allegedly Offered Teens Money For Sex In Colombia, Arrested

A California man was arrested in Colombia after he was accused of offering money to multiple minor girls over Facebook in exchange for sex.

A video of Thomas Renno, from Fairfax, California, being apprehended by Colombian officials in Medellin, was posted Sunday on the Twitter account of Fiscalía Colombia, the attorney general’s office of the nation. The clip showed authorities approaching Renno at the airport Thursday, as he arrived in the country from San Francisco. They were seen explaining the situation to him before handcuffing him and taking him away from the scene. The accused was not seen resisting the arrest at any point.

Fiscalía Colombia tweeted the Colombian police had "unveiled aberrant case of child sexual exploitation," adding that Renno had been arrested and sent to jail.

Renno allegedly contacted at least five young individuals between the ages of 13 and 17 in Medellin and offered to pay them up to $100 for sexual favors. He was accused of sharing pornographic material with the victims and of possessing child pornography as well. Colombian authorities were also interrogating people who might have been associated with the crimes allegedly committed by the accused.

According to ABC7, Renno allegedly used three Facebook profiles — under the names Tom Renno, Tom Rene and Tom Reinolds — to proposition underage girls. Sunday was his seventh trip to Colombia since 2017. He maintained a residence in the nation but held U.S. citizenship.

He faces charges of aggravated crimes of commercial exploitation, pornography and the use of mass media to propose sexual activities.

Friends and acquaintances of the accused were shocked to hear about his arrest. The accused had all his mail delivered to a friend in Fairfax, who told CBS SF BayArea that he did not believe Renno was capable of committing the alleged crimes. He also confirmed that Renno was a retired nurse.

Kevin Shine, Renno’s neighbor, said his daughter was friends with the accused’s child and he never had reasons to suspect anything out of the ordinary that the man might have been involved in. “It messes with the mind. It messes with who the people are around you,” Shine said.