Man Accused Of Luring 9-Year-Old Sent Inappropriate Messages
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GRAPEVINE (CBSDFW.COM) – Grapevine police are releasing details about how an alert mother and quick police action may have prevented the sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl.
And parents, pay attention -- police said it is a case book example of why you should keep an eye on your child's phone.
A Justin mom noticed strange texts on her daughter's phone. What happened next stunned the quiet neighborhood where the single mother and her daughter live.
"There's here's lots of kids in this neighborhood," said Sheree Fenn who has children and lives in the same neighborhood. "So, that's pretty scary."
Scary that a young girl in Justin was allegedly receiving texts from a 36-year old man in Grapevine.
Police said Jonathan Ashley Butler met the girl while she was visiting her father in some Grapevine apartments.
Butler's daughter played with the 9-year old girl.
Police said her mother saw Butler's texts Thursday night.
"The mother continued to text as if she was the daughter," said Sgt. Robert Eberling, Grapevine Police Department spokesman. "The text messages became increasingly more and more inappropriate. At that point she came to the police department."
By Friday morning, Grapevine police said they had baited Butler into thinking his seduction was working.
"It didn't take that long at all," Eberling said.
Pretending to be the girl, police told Butler they would text to be picked up right after school. Investigators say they followed Butler undercover as he drove 20 miles from Grapevine to Justin.
Eberling said Butler drove around Justin for more than an hour, "Just waiting on that text message from the girl."
Police arrested Butler away from the school before it let out. Parents in the neighborhood say the 9-year old's mom is their local hero.
"She did a great job obviously because she got him caught," Fenn laughed.
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