Michigan Man Back In Jail On Child Pornography Charges Just Months After Allegedly Raping Girl, 15, He Met Online While Posing As 14-Year-Old Boy


A Michigan man is back in jail on child pornography charges just three months after he allegedly raped a teen girl he met online while posing as a 14-year-old boy, reported the Daily Mail. Clinton County police officials arrested 24-year-old Jared Andrew Fox of St. Johns after discovering “images and videos of child pornography” on his electronic devices.

Back in February of this year, it was reported that Fox was arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl, who he met on a website called meetme.com. Apparently, in October of last year, he “was engaging young girls in sexually suggestive conversations,” attempting to convince one of them to meet up with him, who they believed was a 14-year-old boy.

After several attempts, one of the teens, whose name has been withheld for legal reasons, agreed to meet up with Fox at her home in Ingham County. However, the meet-and-greet went awry when Fox allegedly raped the teen girl. It was not immediately clear how the alleged rape was reported to police officials, but not long after, Fox was arrested and charged with “five counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and two other charges in that case.”

Police officials later discovered that Fox had been posing as a 14-year-old boy online for months, finding “600 pages of conversations” on the website Meetme.com. However, there was no information on whether or not Fox had met with other teen girls from the website in the past.

If Fox is convicted of raping the 15-year-old girl, he could possibly serve 15 years in prison, according to the Lansing State Journal.

Following his arrest, Meridian Township police officials obtained a search warrant to search his home and his car. His electronic devices were analyzed by the Michigan State University Police Department Digital Forensic and Cyber Crime Unit, who made a shocking discovery. All of Fox’s “computers, cell phones, tablets, discs, and hard drives contained images and videos of child pornography.”

Fox, who was out on bail from his previous case, was arrested again on Friday after Clinton County police officials discovered images and videos of child pornography on his electronic devices. The Michigan man is now facing additional charges of “distributing or promoting child abusive commercial activity, possession of child sexual abusive material and using computers to commit a crime.”

If Fox is convicted of the crimes, he could spend an additional seven years in prison.

In an email, prosecuting Attorney Charles Sherman in Clinton County stated that “Fox has been engaged in large-scale distribution of child pornography. He has been engaged in a minimum of sending or receiving 383 images and videos of children, some under five years old being sexually assaulted by adults and/or other children.”

Although Ingham County Chief Prosecuting Attorney Lisa McCormick refused to comment on Fox’s case, she stated that the “issue is one the public needs to be aware of.”

She continued, “I think that, as parents, we have to be more attuned to the types of websites that children are using today because we don’t know necessarily who they are communicating with on the web.”

“And you can’t trust people to be honest about who they are. And as parents, we have to be vigilant.”

After his arraignment on Monday, Jared Andrew Fox is currently being held at the county jail on a $100,000 bond. He will be tried June 9 in Clinton County court for the child pornography case because his “home is within the county’s jurisdiction.” On June 8, Fox will be tried in Ingham County for the rape case, since that is “where the victim lives.”

[Image via Shutterstock]

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