Snapchat Child Predator Arrested In Prince William: Police

HAYMARKET, VA — A social media predator who befriended young girls while posing as someone their age and engaging in inappropriate behavior was arrested Saturday at his residence in the 4000 block of Latham Drive, according to Prince William County Police.

Juan Aldair Mejia, 19, was charged with two counts of production of child pornography under the age of 15 and two counts of using a communications device to facilitate certain offenses involving children. He's being held without bond. Police say they identified four victims ages 12-14 from Virginia, Tennessee, Washington and Minnesota.

The investigation began last October when a PWCP detective assigned to the Northern Virginia/DC Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force got a call from another police department about a suspect later found to be Mejia. The detective was told he was soliciting a minor for inappropriate pictures on Snapchat.

Police found he would use phony ages to match those of the girls. He then would have sexually explicit conversations with them on Snapchat as well as text messages. Ultimately, police got several search warrants for all of Mejia's social media accounts. They executed them last Wednesday and he was arrested two days later.

Photo: Prince William County Police