Graphic photos discovered on a 12-year-old Barrington girl’s cell phone led to the arrest of a 12-year-old Rehoboth, Mass. boy last week.
On Friday, Feb. 27, Barrington police charged the Rehoboth boy with sexting—electronically disseminating indecent material to another person. The charge followed an investigation that started when a Barrington woman stopped into the station after finding photos of male genitalia on her daughter’s cell phone.
The woman shared the phone with Barrington police detectives who were able to trace the pictures to the Rehoboth boy; investigators say there were images of two other male subjects but they have not yet been able to identify the individuals.
Police also spoke with the Barrington girl, who said she did not know who the person was, but that he had been following her on Instagram. Police said the boys and the Barrington girl had also been corresponding on the site Omegle.com.
According to the police report, it was not clear whether the girl had sent any indecent images of herself to the boys.
Barrington Police Chief John LaCross encouraged parents to check their children’s cell phones for safety reasons.
“If a parent gives a child a cell phone … they should have the right to have total access to that phone,” said Chief LaCross. “They could randomly look at the phone and check it out. It’s for their own safety.”
The chief said children could be targeted by predators online.
“You trust your children, but there should be safety nets,” he added.