ST. ANN, Mo. (First Alert 4) – A Missouri man is behind bars in St. Louis County after planning to meet up with who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
Thirty-nine-year-old Luke Larson is charged with attempted enticement of a child, failure to register as a sex offender and attempted sexual misconduct with a child.
St. Ann Police Deputy Chief Blake Carrigan said officers were notified that a third-party group was talking to Larson on the MeetMe app, posing as a teenage girl.
“We were notified that he drove over an hour to St. Ann, to our city, to pick up this 14-year-old and take her back to her house,” Deputy Chief Carrigan explained.
Messages between Larson and the decoy teen showed she told him she was 14, and he responded, saying, “you don’t look that at all” and “definitely look more mature.”
Deputy Chief Carrigan said Larson’s messages quickly turned into sexting and sending nude photographs.
“It was absolutely appalling. It’s disgusting. It’s a 39-year-old male that was seeking it out. He initiated a conversation with a female he believed to be 14-years-old,” Deputy Chief Carrigan said.
First Alert 4 also obtained body camera video of Larson’s interview with police.
“Just normal flirty conversation, and then gave me her cell phone number, and it went to more explicit conversations,” Larson told police.
Deputy Chief Carrigan said he is not encouraging other third-party groups to do this.
Instead, he’s asking for them to work with the police.
“There are certain types of standard procedures in these investigations and evidence that needs to be collected. Someone with a non-law enforcement background might not understand,” Deputy Chief Carrigan said.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Melissa Price-Smith sat down with First Alert 4 to talk about the charges, and, if the fact, it wasn’t a real teen girl Larson was talking to makes a difference.
“The fact that it was a decoy in this case doesn’t matter,” Price-Smith said. “She told him her age, and after knowing the age, he then engaged in very explicit sexual conversation and sent very explicit sexual photos and made an attempt to set up a meeting and then appeared at that meeting spot.”
Price-Smith said parents need to be mindful of the social media their children are using and check their accounts often.
“They know what kind of language to use and unfortunately they know how to gain trust very quickly,” Price-Smith said.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jenna Joachimstaler wants other parents to be vigilant.
“Just talk to your kids and have open communication,” Joachimstaler said.
Prosecutors say the apps predators use change all the time, and they hadn’t heard of MeetMe until this case.
“It looks like it’s just an app to meet people, whether it’s friends or for relationships,” Joachimstaler said.
In the interview with the police, Larson was asked why he continued to talk to the underage girl.
“I don’t know honestly,” Larson said to the police.
Larson is already a registered sex offender, after being charged with the intent to solicit a minor online in 2010.
In 2011, he was sentenced and started 5 years of supervised probation.
“I’m pissed off at myself because I’ve done well for a long time. I’ve struggled,” Larson told police.
Larson is being held at the St. Louis County Jail on a $750,000 cash only bond.
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