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| Updated: 1/14 10:40 pm |
Published: 1/14 10:15 am |
CONWAY, AR - A Missouri man is in the Faulkner County jail accused of trying to meet up with a young girl for sex in Conway.
Daniel Robideaux, 32, is being held on a $100,00 bond. The Faulkner County Prosecutor's Office tells FOX16 it asked for a high bond because attorneys believe Robideaux is a flight risk.
Robideaux, a Columbia, Missouri man, is charged with internet stalking of a child which is a felony. Faulkner County Sheriff's Deputies say he tried meeting up with a 10-year-old girl for sex.
"There's websites out there just for that. I mean, it's just, you have parents that are willing to give their kids away, basically," says Faulkner County Chief Deputy Matt Rice.
Rice tells FOX16 that Robideaux developed an online friendship with what he thought was the mother of the 10-year-old girl.
"As soon as you get on there it goes real quick into sexual content within seconds. The problem is gaining their trust. And then, eventually, they'll want to meet with you," says Rice.
Deputies say that is exactly what happened at the end of their two-month-long investigation.
Rice says Robideaux convinced the mother to meet up in Conway so he could have sex with her daughter. It turns out that the mother and daughter do not exist, and Robideaux is accused of chatting with an undercover investigator.
Officers say they asked Robideaux to meet up with them at the Office Depot parking lot in Conway on Sunday night because it is not too busy, but it is still a public place.
According to Rice, when Robideaux asked where the 10-year-old was, officers made the arrest.
"It's so, so crazy. If you've seen one of these cases. And, like I said, our investigators have to do this, look at these images and talk to these people the way that they want to be talked to and it's a hard job," says Rice.
Rice says the department is looking at hiring more officers for the Crimes Against Children Unit. He says the need is definitely there.
Right now, two people work in the unit. One is full time. The other works as an IT person. Six other investigators help out sometimes.
