December 10, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
A local investigation has led to the arrest of a California man accused of soliciting nude photos from a seven-year-old girl.
18-year-old Nathan Corona of Moreno Valley, California is charged in a grand jury sealed indictment with exploitation of a minor under age 13 and soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor. Corona was extradited from California and was to make his first court appearance for arraignment in DeKalb County Monday, December 9. He is under a $200,000 bond.
According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, the investigation of Corona began in June after local law enforcement officers learned in May that Corona, by way of social media and cell phone communication, had been in contact with the child and that he had her send him nude pictures of herself.
“It was first reported to the Smithville Police Department, and they seized the victim’s cell phone. After discovering that the victim’s home was outside the city in DeKalb County, the sheriff’s department took custody of the phone and a detective was assigned the case,” he said.
Sheriff Ray said Corona, who called himself Nate, began his communication with the child through pop up chats in an internet game app which progressed to other social media apps used for minor sexual exploitation. According to Sheriff Ray, Corona had the child send him nude pictures of herself and he in turn sent photos of his exposed private parts to her.
The victim’s phone had no cell plan. She was using it through wi-fi only.
During the investigation, which was conducted jointly by sheriff’s department detectives, the TBI Criminal Division and Internet Crimes Against Children Division, and District Attorney General’s Office, the Department of Children Services was notified, and the victim was taken to the Upper Cumberland Children’s Advocacy Center in Cookeville to be interviewed.
After Corona was identified as a suspect and that he lived in California, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in California was contacted and through their task force on internet crimes against children they obtained a search warrant of Corona’s home and found digital evidence linking him to the crime. Sheriff Ray said Corona also gave a confession.
Sheriff Ray is appealing to parents to keep a close watch on what your children are doing on their phone or through social media.
“It is very important that parents know what their children are viewing online. Even though they may not have a personal or laptop computer, most any cell phone now has the capability of Wi-Fi so anyone can access WI-FI from a phone and search for anything they desire. We ask everybody who has children or grandchildren to be cautious to make sure they are viewing age-appropriate things on the internet because children are very vulnerable. If you have any questions or need to report suspicious website activity, call the sheriff’s department and we will have the detectives look into it,” said Sheriff Ray.