School superintendent sent inappropriate videos of himself from work to what he thought was a 15-year-old, Texas police say



A Texas school superintendent was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from one he believed to be a 15-year-old, according to police.

47-year-old Michael Stevens was arrested on the campus of the Itasca Independent School District on Thursday. He was charged with online solicitation of a minor after police said he was caught in an online predator sting sending inappropriate photos and asking for inappropriate photos from the online person.

Stevens, who is a former coach and a former principal, was allegedly planning a trip to Houston in order to have sex with the 15-year-old girl.

That girl turned out to be an undercover officer.

He also allegedly solicited another undercover officer who was pretending to be a 16-year-old girl in May.

Prosecutors provided numerous examples of explicit messages that Stevens is accused of sending to whom he thought was a minor.

Stevens allegedly told the girl during school hours to leave class to send him explicit photos, saying, "You have to take pictures for daddy, go into a stall and take pictures."

In another message, he promised to meet her in order to have sex, according to prosecutors.

"Yes can’t wait till we meet but surely you know that I’m truly committed to eventually meeting up with you, those other ones were just talking — I’m a different guy," he allegedly wrote.

He also reportedly said he would divorce his wife in order to marry the girl's mother so that he could have access to the daughter for sex.

"He was actually videotaping himself at his job, at his place of work. He apparently got very comfortable with what he was doing," said Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen.

Stevens made an appearance at a court hearing Friday during which a judge gave him a bond of $100,000. If he posts bond, he will be required to install software on his computer to monitor his online activity, submit to random drug testing, and avoid all contact with anyone under 17 years old.

Police are asking parents in the district to contact them if they believe their children might have been inappropriately assaulted by Stevens.

In addition to Stevens, the police sting nabbed six other men on similar charges.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

$100K bond set for Itasca ISD superintendent charged for planning to meet teen in Houston www.youtube.com

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Man admits to grooming underage girls online, including making one girl attempt to kill her parents and another to self-harm



A man pleaded guilty to one federal charge related to grooming underage girls online, including making one girl attempt to kill her parents and another girl to harm herself.

Matthew Christian Locher, 31, faces 15 to 30 years in prison for one count of sexual exploitation of a child for the purpose of producing a sexually explicit visual depiction, according to an official statement from the U.S. attorney's office.

Locher admitted to committing his atrocious acts while living in Redondo Beach, California, between 2020 and 2021. He said that he would search for young girls who were suffering from mental health issues including suicidal thoughts, depression, and anorexia.

“Locher groomed his victims to engage in self-mutilation and instructed a victim struggling with an eating disorder to starve herself, ordering her to film herself cutting her body when she disobeyed him,” the statement said.

Prosecutors said two victims sent him photographs of self-harm and another victim tried to burn down her home in Ohio in an attempt to kill her parents on his orders. That girl was 12 years old at the time and was to run away to California to have sex with the man.

Locher moved to Indiana after authorities searched his home but he was arrested in Indiana in January and sent back to California. He will be sentenced in January.

Experts have cautioned parents to be mindful of what their children are doing online and monitor their messages from strangers on apps and online forums.

In one case from 2021, a 13-year-old was saved by police from a motel in Edgewater, Florida, after she left school to meet a man she had met online. 24-year-old Tyler Thompson was convicted in August of various sex charges and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Here's more about the Edgewater abduction:

Volusia deputy rescues missing girl at motel: 2/18/21youtu.be

20-year-old man met teen on Instagram, lived under her bed for 3 weeks and raped her, police say



Police say a 20-year-old man lived under a teenage girl's bed for three weeks after meeting her on Instagram, and in that time he raped her and took nude photos of her.

The shocking incident unfolded in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Police allege that Jaret Wright of Barberton met the unidentified victim on Instagram and began living under her bed in February, unbeknownst to her parents. It was unclear if the two were in a relationship or if she invited him to live under her bed.

The girl was reported to be aged between 13 and 18 years old according to the Associated Press.

Police said that Wright raped the girl and took nude photos of her.

Eventually the teen's mother discovered Wright and called the police to arrest him. He was charged with three counts of sexual assault and a single count of producing child pornography.

Wright is being detained on a $50,000 bond.

Psychologist Dr. Ed Connor told WXIX-TV that predators are using social media in order to gain the confidence of their victims and take advantage of them.

"Perpetrators, especially when they're older than the victim, are quite good at grooming and convincing the victim that they're simply a friend and out for their best interests," Connor said.

He recommended that parents be proactive about monitoring what their children are doing on social media and on computers.

"Parents have to be intrusive," Connor continued. "They have to be more involved with what their child is doing on social media or the internet."

In another social media child abduction case in February, police rescued a 14-year-old from his 38-year-old abductor in Arkansas when they were spotted at a McDonald's. The man shot at police and tried to escape, but turned the gun on himself after crashing in the ensuing chase. Law enforcement officials said he had been contacting almost a dozen other children through the internet.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

Man accused of sleeping under teen's bed, raping herwww.youtube.com

Police video shows the moment a missing 13-year-old girl rushes to hug a deputy who rescued her from alleged online predator



A startling video captured the moment that a missing 13-year-old girl rushed to hug a deputy who rescued her from an alleged online predator.

The incident unfolded Thursday at the All Suite Motel in Edgewater, Florida.

The grandmother of the girl called police after she failed to arrive home in Oak Hill from school and didn't go to a basketball game she had planned to attend.

Deputy Royce James spoke to a friend of the girl who told him that she had planned to go to a motel with someone she had met online. The friend said that the man's name started with a T, possibly Tyler, might have been from Orlando, and that the girl might have met him at the Dollar General store in Oak Hill.

Deputy James was able to find surveillance images of the victim at the store, and an employee said that she had been waiting for someone outside the store.

When James searched the motels nearby, he eventually found a guest named Tyler from Orlando who had checked in that day.

When deputies knocked on the door, video captured the girl running to hug Deputy James.

The girl asked for James to stay with her while she went for evaluation at a local Department of Children and Families facility, and he remained with her. She was returned to her family after the evaluation.

Tyler Thompson, 22, was charged with interference with child custody and also with traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child.

He was released on $15,000 bond, but authorities say further charges against him are pending.

Here's the harrowing video of the incredible rescue:

Volusia deputy rescues missing girl at motel: 2/18/21www.youtube.com

PA man critically injures cop and then kills himself after kidnapping 14-year-old he had met online, police say



Police say a Pennsylvania man shot and killed himself after he was chased by cops because he allegedly kidnapped a 14-year-old girl he had met online. They later found that he had been talking to 10 other underage children.

The shocking incident unfolded on Saturday in Lonoke, Arkansas, when two police officers spotted an SUV at a McDonald's that matched the description of a vehicle used in an abduction.

Nine days previous and 800 miles away in Denton, North Carolina, the girl had been abducted by 38-year-old William Ice, according to the Davidson County Sheriff's Office. They allege that Ice had been communicating with the underage girl on the internet.

KLRT-TV reported that the girl had been communicating with Ice via a school-issued computer.

When police saw two people get into the vehicle at the McDonald's, they ordered the driver to leave the SUV.

Instead, Ice "aimed a gun at one of the officers and began shooting, critically wounding the officer," police said.

The officer was had not been shot was able to fire back, but Ice took off in the SUV with the girl. An Arkansas state trooper was able to chase Ice before he ran his vehicle into a snow bank.

The girl was able to escape after the crash and police say they found Ice had been injured from what appeared to be a self-inflicted wound. He later died at a hospital.

When police searched Ice's home, they said that they discovered the names and addresses of many more underage girls he had been communicating with in Alamance County, North Carolina.

"Upon interviewing these individuals and also seizing their school computers, we found ... a total of 10 juveniles that had contact with Mr. Ice," said Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson.

Police say Ice had been wanted by police in Pennsylvania in relation to other child predator cases.

The kidnapped girl was returned to her family in North Carolina.

The officer who was injured was identified as Lonoke police officer Cody Carpenter. He was hospitalized in stable condition despite being shot several times. He is expected to fully recover.

KLRT also reported that the part of the highway where police encountered Ice was one known for incidents of human trafficking.

Here's a local news report about the harrowing incident:

Ark. State Police: Lonoke police officer injured in shooting during recovery of abducted N.C. teen,www.youtube.com