West Des Moines Girl, 12, Receives Obscene Photo After Online Chat

The parents of a 12-year-old West Des Moines girl told police that their daughter received an obscene photo of a man’s genitalia after she chatted with friends on a website associated with instagram.com.

According to West Des Moines Police Officer Nathan Ladwig’s report, the girl had been chatting with people she knew when the male, who was unknown to the group, began chatting. He gave a name, said he was 16 and claimed to live in South Carolina, according to the report.

After a short conversation, she said goodbye to him and he sent her the obscene image, Ladwig wrote.

The girl had been using her mother’s smart phone for the online chat, according to the report. After viewing the image, she gave the phone to her father, who told the man that he was the girl’s father, according to the report.

“He then apologized and left the chat room,” Ladwig wrote.

The incident occurred earlier this month.