By Jean Cole
ARDMORE — Ardmore Police Chief David Whitt says parents should take control of teen telephones after another 23-year-old man was arrested for soliciting sex by phone from a 15-year-old girl.
Ardmore Police Officer David Posey and Sgt. Tracy Luna arrested Jeremy Scott Powell, 23, of 212 Elkton Road in Athens on Sunday on charges of electronically soliciting a child, traveling to meet a child for sex and transmitting obscene material, Whitt said Monday.
He is accused of sending sexual messages and an illicit photograph to the girl’s cellular telephone. However, the girl’s mother intercepted the messages after confiscating the girl’s phone while she was grounded, Whitt said. Police believe the partial image was of the accused.
The mother brought the telephone to Ardmore Police and filed a report.
“Parents need to be checking out who their children are communicating with,” Whitt said. “I know parents want to be friends, but they first need to be parents. They need to know who their children are hanging out with and texting. With the technology we have today, a child’s telephone can be programmed to only call or receive certain numbers, and that is what parents need to be doing. Even the best kids can get caught up in something before they know it. Parents need to stay on top of it.”
This is the second time in eight days that Ardmore police have arrested a 23-year-old man for soliciting sex from a 15-year-old girl. In both of the cases, the girls knew the men who solicited.
Under Alabama law, a 15-year-old is considered a child who cannot consent to sexual contact.
Powell was released from the Limestone County Jail after posting a $20,000 bond, records show.
