INDIANAPOLIS — A place for buyers and sellers turned out to be more than a family bargained for after a man began messaging a 12-year-old girl.
"What is scary is just how fast the communication moves between the child and the offender from something innocent to something much more sinister," said Kristina Karabov, a senior attorney with Zero Abuse Project.
Karabov said she's never had a case where a person used Facebook Marketplace to lure a child.
"Offenders will use any means to get to a child, and it seems that pretty quickly in this communication this individual found out the person he was talking to was a child," said Karabov.
According to the court documents, 36-year-old Tierre Morse and the girl spoke for more than a week. Police say it started on Facebook Marketplace then switched to an app called Text Now before transitioning to SnapChat.
And as time passed, investigators say the messaging turned more personal and sexual at times, sending pictures and video chatting.
"Once that bond is developed and it seems that the child is comfortable in communication and willing to communicate, then the offender can take it down any number of roads and in this case, you have a child who repeatedly disclosed her age," said Karabov.
Karabov credits the girl's mother for checking her daughter's messages and turning them over to police. Karabov doesn't advise parents to allow their children to sell things online.
"Any number of bad things could happen, from them being financially being taken advantage of to giving out too much private information to being solicited by an adult, so we would certainly encourage parents not to let their kids engage in certain activities that they're just not ready for the potential consequences of," Karabov said.
And with the days of kids flipping through a JCPenney or Sears catalog being a thing of the past, Karabov wants parents to keep an eye out on where their kids go looking for presents online this holiday season. She said when it comes to shopping online, if you wouldn't feel comfortable with your child negotiating a deal with someone in person, then you shouldn't allow them to do it online.