PENDER COUNTY – An active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune has been charged with soliciting sex from a teenager over the social media app, Snapchat.
Georgia-native Justin Ryan Collins, 21, was arrested on the Onslow County military base on Thursday and charged with one count of solicitation of a child by computer, first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and indecent liberties with a child, according to Capt. Billy Sanders with the Pender County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO).
PCSO detectives launched an investigation after they received a report that Collins had been messaging two teenage girls over the Snapchat app, one of which he had been talking to for months. Charges were brought after he expressed interest in having sexual relations with one of the girls and offered to meet her in Pender County.
Anyone with further information about Collins is asked to call PCSO Detective-Sergeant Steve Clinard at 910-259-1437.
Detectives advise parents to familiarize themselves with the various social media apps accessible to their children and monitor their activity and take steps to safe-guard them from on-line predators.
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