Ohio cops say 11-year-old could be charged with child porn after she was lured to send nudes to man she met online

An investigation has been launched into two Ohio police officers after they informed the parent of an 11-year-old child that she could be charged with creating child pornography. This is despite the child victim being groomed by an online predator to produce explicit images.

The victim's father alerted the Columbus Police Department last week that his daughter had been manipulated by a grown man into sending him pornographic images and had requested officers to speak with his child about the dangers of online predators, according to Daily Mail.

The father, who did not reveal his identity, uploaded a viral video to TikTok of his "stunning" verbal exchange with two Columbus police officers who arrived at the home around midnight when the child was asleep in bed. The incident was captured on the front door's security camera.


 

"My daughter was a victim [of] a online predator," he wrote on TikTok. "She's 11 he's a grown man. He manipulated her into sending pictures of herself. This was the police response at midnight we called at 6."

The father then shared security footage of the exchange he had with one female officer who can be heard on video informing him that his child "could probably get charged with child porn if she found to have produced the images."

Stunned by the officer's remarks, the father said: "Who? She can? She's 11 years old."

The same officer asked: "She's creating it, right?"

"She's 11 years old," the father asserted.

"Doesn't matter. She's still making porn," the female officer maintained.

Arguing back the father said: "No. She's being manipulated by a grown a– adult on the internet."

The female officer cut him off and asked: "Is she taking pictures, though?"

"You guys have a nice evening, thank you for coming," the father said, abruptly ending the conversation.


Screengrab from security footage

The Columbus Police Department released a statement on Monday informing the public that the two responding officers are under investigation for their response to the "call for service."

"The Division of Police regards all allegations of sexual misconduct with the utmost seriousness. Incidents involving minors are handled with the highest degree of concern. Sexual Assault Unit detectives were immediately notified of the incident and have since initiated an investigation," the department said.

According to the statement, the Columbus Department of the Inspector General "which investigates complaints of misconduct and/or excessive use of force by sworn personnel, has opened an inquiry into this incident."

On Tuesday, Columbus Police Chief Elaine R. Bryant released a follow-up statement on the viral video and said: "My expectation is that our officers treat every victim of crime with compassion, decency, and dignity. What I saw in that video did not reflect that - which is why we referred this case to the Inspector General."

"I want to make clear - this incident does not reflect the Division as a whole. Our officers do outstanding work to bring comfort and justice to victims every day. As soon as we learned of this incident, we immediately reached out to the father to apologize, and to assure him that this matter was being fully investigated - both the actions of this officer, and more importantly, any crime committed against his child," she continued."

"As I have said from my first day on the job - when our officers do the right thing, we will have their back, When they don't, we will hold them accountable," she added.

Ohio law states that minors can face juvenile charges for producing nude images, according to Criminal Defense Lawyer.