A Minnesota man was arrested in Burke County. Law enforcement say he traveled to the area with the intention of having sex with a minor.
Gerson Anthony Reyes-Morales, 24, of Minneapolis, was charged Friday, June 20, with felony kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, soliciting a child by computer for sex acts, and misdemeanor driving while license revoked, resisting a public officer and attempted contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to a news release from the Burke County Sheriff鈥檚 Office.
Reyes-Morales was given no bond for the felony charges and given a $25,000 bond for the misdemeanor charges, according to the Burke County Sheriff鈥檚 Office. His first court date for the felony charges is set for Thursday. A court date on the misdemeanor charges is set for July 17, the release said.
The sheriff鈥檚 office said Reyes-Morales was arrested at 1:40 a.m. June 20 in connection to an ongoing investigation. He was stopped by law enforcement in 麻豆传媒 while he was attempting to meet with a 14-year-old victim for sexual acts, according to the release.
鈥淭here are predators out there who will try to use the internet through chats, video games, other social media platforms to try to coax people who are younger, naive, to meet with them, and of course these predators will exploit them for a wide variety of things, including sex,鈥� Sheriff Banks Hinceman said.
He said parents should pay attention to what sites their children are on, what social media platforms they鈥檙e on, what they鈥檙e posting and who they鈥檙e talking to.
鈥淪o parents just need to be on guard and talk to their kids about the danger of these internet predators,鈥� Hinceman said. 鈥淚 know those are hard conversations for people to have with their kids, but you鈥檝e got to have them. Because if you鈥檙e not having them, these predators are having these conversations on the other side of these chat rooms or social media. They鈥檙e out there.鈥�