Sex Offender Re-arrested For Child Solicitation
A 44-year-old Michigan man with a previous sex crime conviction was arrested Tuesday on charges of attempting to solicit a 10-year-old North Webster girl for sex.
Robert Loren Northrop, 44, of Niles, Mich., was reported to have found the girl through a “friends chat” application. He asked her age, and the girl said she was 13. He continued with explicit questions regarding the girls genitalia. The girl’s mother found the messages, which had been received on June 3, and immediately notified North Webster Police.
In the messages shown to police, Northrop sent the girl his phone number encouraging her to text or call him.
As detectives with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department took over the case, they continued to text Northrop pretending to be the girl. Northrop continued to ask for nude photos of the girl. He also sent more than one photo of his genitalia and a video of himself masturbating. He proceeded to say that he wants to have sexual intercourse with the girl, but is on disability and does not have a vehicle so he cannot drive to Indiana to see her.
Michigan State Police confirmed the number to belong to Northrop. Northrop is a registered sex offender due to a 1988 conviction in Michigan for Level 3 felony criminal sexual conduct.
Northrop was arrested Tuesday on a Level 5 felony charge of child solicitation, a Level 6 felony for disseminating matter harmful to minors and a Class A misdemeanor for inappropriate communication with a child. He is being held in the Kosciusko County Jail on a $4,000 surety bond.