Man Admits to Stabbing Sex Worker After Learnng He Wasn't a Woman

A 41-year-old Silver Spring man is recovering from multiple stab wounds from an attack by a man who paid him for sex, Montgomery County Police report. 

Police say they responded to the victim’s home in the 1000 block of Ruatan Street around 6:15 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 3, and found him with wounds to his upper body. 

Investigators say that the victim met the suspect, Christian Romero, 20, of Hyattsville, at the Cococabana Bar and Grill in Hyattsville. The victim was dressed in women’s clothes, police said, and the suspect said later that he assumed the person he’d met was a woman.

The victim agreed to perform a "sex act" with the suspect for money and the two went to the victim’s home in Silver Spring. Police said the two finished the sex act and went outside to smoke cigarettes.

When the victim turned away from the suspect, the suspect started stabbing the victim in the upper body with a folding knife, police report. After stabbing the victim several times, the suspect fled.

Later on the same day, around 3:15 p.m., the suspect went back to the home in Silver Spring and told the people inside of the victim’s home that he wanted to apologize for the stabbing. Police were called again and officers said the suspect confessed to the crime.

The victim is still in the hospital and Romero was charged with attempted murder and assault. His bond review will be held Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 1 p.m.