KENT, Wash. — The Kent Police Department is urging parents to check their children’s phones often after one family found some shocking texts on their preteen’s cell.
Police say a concerned parent called 911 after finding sexual texts from a man in his 30s on their daughter’s phone.
The department says the Seattle man met the girl while she was trick-or-treating and “thought she was pretty and somehow, obtained her cell phone number.”
According to a social media post by Kent police, the two were texting back and forth for over a week, and the man was suggesting they meet up to engage in sexual activity.
The department says the parent found the messages before anything could progress further.
“It seems obvious to us as adults not to give random strangers our phone numbers or addresses, and not to try to meet up with someone we barely know. But kids lack our experience and think differently,” the department wrote online.
Kent police suggest parents think of a cell phone, iPad, laptop, and other similar devices as windows to the home, that can provide strangers access to children.
“Talk to your kids, check their phones frequently, and put safeguards on their devices,” the department says.
The man was arrested and is facing the felony charge of Communicating with a Minor for Immoral Purposes.