A 46-year-old man has been arrested and charged by Police, after allegedly attempting to meet a young teenage girl for sex.
The man was arrested on Friday 4 October following an investigation by Hawke¡¯s Bay Police and the OCEANZ (Online Child Exploitation Across NZ) unit.?
He is facing three charges of indecent communication with a young person under 16, and one charge of travelling to meet a young person-sex grooming.
Detective Sergeant Alex Macdonald says OCEANZ had received information that the man was allegedly attempting to contact young girls for the purposes of sexual abuse.
¡°This kind of offending in our communities is incredibly alarming and serves as an excellent reminder of the need to be vigilant around online safety for children and young people,¡± says Detective Sergeant Macdonald.
¡°The school holidays would be a great time to sit down with your kids and have a conversation about how to stay safe online. You can find information on the Police website to help with those conversations.¡±
The man charged with this offending is scheduled to appear in Hastings District Court today (Monday 7 October).
Detective Senior Sergeant John McCarthy from Hawke¡¯s Bay Police¡¯s Child Protection Team says the investigation into this matter is ongoing and is not ruling out identifying further victims.
¡°We will continue to work with OCEANZ to ensure that offenders targeting young people in our community in this way are held to account for their actions,¡± says Detective Senior Sergeant McCarthy.
¡°We urge anyone with concerns about potential criminal behaviour targeting children or young people to get in touch with Police so that we can investigate.¡±
?
ENDS
?
Issued by Police Media Centre.?