PARKERSBURG, WV (LOOTPRESS) A Texas man has been arrested and was extradited to West Virginia on Tuesday after attempts to solicit a 10-year-old Wood County girl through the social media app Snapchat.
The Parkersburg Police Department reports that detectives with the department’s Internet Crimes division began an investigation in July 2021 regarding an individual sending sexually explicit messages to a local 10-year-old girl through the Snapchat social media app.
Detectives became privy to the communication after messages were discovered by a parent of the female, at which time law enforcement was notified of the situation.
Over the course of the conversation discovered by detectives, the subject was observed to have requested sexually explicit images from the juvenile female both with and without clothing.
The subject is also reported to have told the minor female during these interactions that “she is attractive, that the images are just for him, that he loves her, and that the messages/images could be a secret.”
Additionally, the subject told the juvenile that he was 17-years old, lived in Texas, “and that he should visit her sometime.”
Several search warrants were executed by detectives during the investigation, and it was determined that the subject behind the communication was 36-year-old Ruben Romero of El Paso Texas. It was also determined that the phone being utilized for the communication had been issued to Romero through his employer.
A warrant was obtained by Parkersburg Detectives for Romero for Soliciting a Minor via Computer and, with the assistance of authorities in Texas, Romero was arrested and placed in the El Paso County Jail.
Detectives with the Parkersburg Police Department traveled to El Paso and extradited Romero back to West Virginia on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Romero was processed at the Parkersburg Police Department and arraigned in Wood County Magistrate Court where bond was set at $50,000.
Failing to post bond, Romero was placed in the North Central Regional Jail to await further court proceedings.
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