He sought sex with teen: cops
A Queens man who relied on an instant messaging app to persuade someone he thought was a teenage girl to have cybersex with him was brought down by an undercover cop posing as a 14-year-old, authorities said Tuesday.
Richard Wood, 33, was charged with attempted use of a child in sexual performance, first-degree attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors and attempted endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
Wood, of Jamaica, used an app known as Kik on April 8 under the screen name Tjtj201 to send the undercover NYPD detective sexually explicit messages and pictures, authorities said.
Several days after initiating the chat, Wood sent more pervy photos and asked the “teen” to video chat with him April 15. The detective told the creep she was 14, to which Wood replied that he wasn’t a police officer and didn’t care about her age, according to a criminal complaint.
Authorities obtained a subpoena for Wood’s IP address and Kik account April 22 and issued a warrant for his arrest. He was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court late Friday.
“For many, the internet is a great learning tool with access to a plethora of valuable information. But for some, unfortunately, it is a place to troll for children to satisfy their demented sexual fantasies. The defendant in this case got caught reaching out to a 14year-old youngster, who just happened to be a police officer on assignment,” said acting Queens District Attorney John M. Ryan.
Wood is next due in court May 28. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.