MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Horry County police were called Tuesday to Ocean Bay Elementary School after someone found an inappropriate photo on a student’s cell phone.
According to the police report, officers discovered two 11-year-old female victims had been talking to a 35-year-old male suspect on Snapchat, Instagram, and Musically. Initially, the suspect led the victims to believe he was 13 years old.
The second victim told police the first child had been messaging the suspect since April 16 and told the second victim to add the suspect on the apps. The second child told police she had been exchanging messages with the man for about one week.
The suspect messaged the second child inappropriate photos and one video of his private parts, the police report says. The first victim says the suspect told her she was 13 years old when they first began talking online. After they continued talking, the suspect admitted he was actually 35 years old and was from England.
The girls told police the photos he sent did not match the profile picture on the suspect’s accounts. Both victims say the man never asked where they live or if they ever wanted to meet. When investigators looked at the suspect’s social media pages, they realized he was ‘friends’ online with multiple juvenile females at the school.
The incident report says police advised school officials to put out a school wide bulletin about the dangers of talking to strangers on social media.
The case has been placed ‘inactive’ unless further leads arise, the police report states. No one has been charged in reference to the incident.
