Crime & Safety
Man Used Facebook To Get 10-Year-Old To Send Nude Photos: Police
Police arrested a Lake Wales man who authorities say used social media to coerce a girl to exchange nude photos with him.
LAKE WALES, FL — A Lake Wales man was arrested on multiple charges after authorities said he used Facebook to coerce a 10-year-old girl to send him nude photos of herself.
A Polk County Sheriff's Office investigation discovered that Simon Anderson, 19, used the name Pete Anderson on his Facebook account to send the girl inappropriate messages and pictures of his genitals, a news release said.
A parent of another child found out about what Anderson was doing on April 30, and alerted police. Authorities learned he had threatened to report the child to law enforcement if she didn't send him nude photos of herself, and he threatened to kill her and himself if she didn't obey his command.
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The girl told forensic investigators that she was frightened by his threats and sent photos of herself.
The computer crimes unit searched the victim’s cell phone and discovered multiple messages and images that had been sent from Anderson’s Facebook account.
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Police said that when a detective interviewed Anderson, he admitted that he sent the girl images of his genitalia. He told the detective that they were “kind of in a relationship, but not really.” He told investigators that he didn’t want to send her the nude photos of himself, but he did so “to be nice.”
“As a parent, this kind of a story has got to break your heart, scare you, and make you angry, all at the same time," said Sheriff Grady Judd in a news release. "Sick creeps like this are out there folks…going after innocent children. This is exactly why I say that parents need to be all-up in their child’s business. You need to monitor who they’re communicating with online.”
Anderson is charged with extortion, possession of child pornography, transmitting material harmful to a child and aggravated cyberstalking on Tuesday. He was arrested and taken to the Polk County Jail.
Anderson’s electronic storage devices were collected, and they are being searched. Any additional evidence found on those devices could lead to additional charges.
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