Two officers responded to a call from a father who said he had found photos and messages on his daughter's phone.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus police officer summoned to a home by a father concerned his 11-year-old daughter was being solicited by an adult man repeatedly asserted that the girl could face charges for sending explicit images of herself.
Police have not released the father’s name, and the AP does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse or domestic violence. He didn’t immediately respond to phone messages or on social media from the AP on Wednesday seeking comment.Both the security video and the audio from the redacted body camera footage show the officers talking with the father outside his home after midnight.
In audio of the body camera footage, the female officer can be heard asserting again as she walks away from the house, “She’s taking pictures of herself naked. She’s creating child porn.” According to the dispatch log, the father called 911 around 6:50 p.m. on Sept. 14, and was told they would send a female officer. He called again at about 7:50 p.m. to say the response was taking too long. Officers showed up at the family’s home more than five hours later, after midnight on Sept. 15.
The notes from officers in the log and in the incident report place blame on the father for ending the conversation before they could discuss possible outcomes, saying he became “immediately upset.”Despite the police chief’s statement referring to the child as a victim, Columbus police have not responded to questions about whether she could still face charges.