Anne Arundel Co. Girl, 12, Planned To Run Away With Online Boyfriend, 25
MILLERSVILLE, Md. (WJZ)— With help from school resource officers, Anne Arundel County Police averted a potentially dangerous situation involving a 12-year-old girl and a man she met online from Tennessee.
The girl attends middle school in Anne Arundel County, where a school counselor received information that she planned to run away from home to meet with a man who she believed to be a teenager.
Police say the young girl panned to meet her online boyfriend at a location before school where they would depart in a stolen vehicle to the boyfriend's home in Tennessee.
School resource officers were granted permission from her parents to access the child's social media account and cell phone. From there they determined the "boyfriend" was actually an adult male in his 20s who misrepresented his age and knew the female was only 12.
The school resource officer contacted a district detective for additional assistance. Working together, officers obtained the suspect's identifying information from cellular subscriber records and contacted the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for support.
Tennessee officials made contact with the 25-year-old male and confirmed he had been communicating with the 12-year-old girl. During the investigation, Tennessee officials located images of child pornography, and their investigation concerning possession of these images is ongoing.
The Anne Arundel County Police Department will not be providing any further identifying information about the suspect.
The female student and her family were given psychological crisis counseling.
