A Michigan man faces various charges after allegedly sending nude photos to a minor, WDIV reported.
According to the station, the man, 30-year-old Michael Raymond-Ulrich Simmons, was turned in by his own father, who called Michigan State Police about the alleged illegal activity in October 2020.
"The father told troopers that Simmons may have sent inappropriate photos to a minor," WDIV said.
After a "lengthy" investigation, the Missaukee County Prosecutor's Office authorized a warrant on February 24 "charging Simmons with accosting a child for immoral purposes, intentional dissemination of sexually explicit material and using a computer to commit a crime," said WDIV.
On Tuesday, Simmons turned himself in. He is now being held in the Missaukee County Jail on a "personal recognizance bond."
A personal recognizance bond, explained Nolo, is a "no-cost bail."
"Defendants released on their own recognizance need only sign a written promise to appear in court as required. No bail has to be paid, either to the court or to a bail bond seller," stated Nolo.
Simmons's next court date is scheduled for March 17, WDIV reported.
Newsweek has reached out to the Michigan State Police for more information but did not hear back in time for publication.
In the state of Michigan, "accosting a child for immoral purposes" is considered a Class F felony punishable by up to four years in prison and/or a maximum fine of $4,000 explained Michigan-based criminal lawyers Grabel & Associates. Should someone be convicted of committing such a crime, they may also be required to register as a sex offender.
On its website, the Registered Offenders List said that there are 33,775 registered sex offenders in the state of Michigan.
In 2020, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)—a non-profit organization that strives to help governments "shape new laws" that will "benefit victims of child sexual abuse"—released a report that showed "the growing risk of children, particularly girls aged 11-13, being targeted by criminal sex predators" online, according to the organization's website.
In that report, IWF confirmed that it processed 68,000 reports of self-generated content in 2020.
"Self-generated content can include child sexual abuse content which has been created using webcams, very often in the child's own room, and then shared online," the organization said, adding that this new total was a 77 percent increase over 2019.
"The scale of the problem is appalling, and our fear is without intervention it will get worse, and more and more girls will fall victim to this pernicious and manipulative form of abuse," said Susie Hargreaves OBE, chief executive of the IWF.
"This is a pivotal time. With more people spending more time online, predators are finding new ways to contact and manipulate children who are, in many cases, a captive audience at home with their devices," Hargreaves added.
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