A Florida man has been arrested after police say he used the video game “World of Warcraft” to find and hide a missing Ohio teen with the intention of sexually abusing him. Ta.
According to a news release, Marion County Sheriff's Office Detective Henrik Ostedo said Wednesday that he was “traveling to meet a minor for the purpose of sexual activity, interfering with the custody of a child, and protecting an unmarried minor.” Thomas Ebersole, 31, was arrested on suspicion of committing a crime.
Dunnellon man arrested for traveling to Ohio to meet minors Wednesday, January 3, 2024, Marion County Sheriff's Office…
Contributor Marion County Sheriff's Office upon Thursday, January 4, 2024
The FBI requested Detective Ocedo's assistance in locating a missing 16-year-old girl, and investigators determined that the girl's online World of Warcraft account had been logged into by someone at the Dunnellon address in Eversole. I discovered.
“Law enforcement contacted Mr. Eversole at his home, where he initially denied knowing the victim,” the local sheriff's office said in a statement. “However, he ultimately admitted that he drove to Ohio to meet the victim and took her back to her home.”
Ebersole also told police he was in a relationship with the girl and that he planned to make her his wife and hid her in his home, officials said.
The suspect and victim appear to have met through the Internet, and police have viewed their messages on the chat app Discord. [Ebersole’s] Planned to meet the victim in Ohio and have sex with him, knowing that the victim was committing a crime. ”
by National Center on Missing and Exploited Children (NCME)Reports of online solicitation of children for sexual activity increased by 82 percent from 2021 to 2022.
A study completed by the organization in 2017 found that 78% of reported child victims were girls. The victims ranged in age from just 1 year old to 17 years old, with an average age of 15 years.
A June 2023 NBC report We detail how Discord, used by 150 million people around the world, has been used by child criminals to commit crimes.
NBC News examined international, national, and local criminal charges, news articles, and law enforcement communications issued since Discord's founding and found that no adult has been accused of kidnapping, grooming, or sexual assault in the past six years. We identified 35 cases in which charges were filed. It involved communication on Discord. Of those, 22 occurred during or after the coronavirus pandemic. At least 15 of the charges have resulted in guilty pleas or verdicts, and many other cases are still pending.
NBC News identified an additional 165 cases involving four criminal organizations. In this case, adults were charged with sending and receiving child sexual abuse material via Discord and using the platform to coerce children into sending sexually graphic images of themselves.
