Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

Arrest inchild luring

Georgia man accused of traveling for sex with minor after online chats, police say

- By Erika Pesantes Staff writer

A Georgia man is accused of traveling to have sex with a 12-year-old Pembroke Pines girl after exchanging more than 1,000 messages with her, authoritie­s said.

Police say Ryan Reza Salehzadeh, 25, of Fayettevil­le, Ga., establishe­d a sexual online relationsh­ip with the girl between Dec. 1 and Jan. 7. According to an arrest warrant, he told the girl he loved her and wanted to be the first manwith whom she had sex.

Authoritie­s say the girl’s father discovered their inappropri­ate chats and alerted police. Investigat­ors learned that Salehzadeh and the girl communicat­ed through Omegle, a website that randomly pairs up strangers for one-on-one chats.

The website beckons: “Talk to Strangers!” It even warns: “Predators have been known to use Omegle, so please be careful.”

Police say the girl initially told Salehzadeh she was 18 to gain access to Omegle, but a selfie she sent him depicted her as the 12-year-old shewas.

Salehzadeh was aware he had been chatting with a minor, detectives say, and she even told him she was months away from her13th birthday.

“Age doesn’t matter it’s just a silly number, plus I’m not one of those people who freak out about age, I don’t care about age,” he wrote, according to the arrestwarr­ant. “Iwant you baby.”

Investigat­ors reviewed chats between the pair and noted they were in touch daily and “at all hours of the day,” the arrest warrant said.

The pair discussed sex and Salehzadeh sent her messages about the sexual acts he imagined performing with her, it said.

According to police, the girl gave Salehzadeh informatio­n that portrayed her to be a minor — she talked about attending school, living at home andwas cautious not to drawher parents’ attention.

During their chats, Salehzadeh allegedly sent the 12-year-old nude photos of himself that showed his face and genitals. Detectives say he encouraged the girl to send him images of her genitals.

Oncepolice­were notified of the inappropri­ateconvers­ations, police began posing as the girl and made plans to meet.

Salehzadeh was arrested while traveling to have sex with the child in Georgia last monthandwa­s brought to BrowardCou­nty to face charges of obscene communicat­ion/ using a computer to seduce, solicit, lure a child andtransmi­tting harmful informatio­n to minors.

An incident report from the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia agency that arrested him, listed his employer as a rehabilita­tion center where Salehzadeh worked as a certified nursing assistant.

Salehzadeh posted a $51,500 bond and was released fromBrowar­d’s jailMonday.

epesantes@tribpub.com or 954-356-4543 or Twitter @epesantes

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