A prosecutor's statement was filed on Wednesday against a 19-year-old man from Ashkelon who allegedly sent messages of a sexual nature – some of which included pornographic images of children – to underage girls on a popular online multiplayer game.
The suspect was arrested last Sunday after he had scheduled a meet-up with an undercover police officer who was pretending to be an 8-year-old girl.
The investigation into the suspect revealed that he would regularly send private messages to 7-12-year-old girls using the online game's chat feature, while pretending to be a young girl.
From the game, the suspect would move to more private messaging apps, where he would send messages of a sexual nature, including pornographic images and requests for images of the young girls in exchange for virtual game tokens.
The investigation revealed that the suspect had sent messages of this nature to four different underage girls, in addition to the messages he sent to the undercover police officer.
In addition, the suspect is currently being interrogated for suspicion of committing obscene sexual acts against a minor under the age of 14, as well as the possession of child pornography.
The suspect's arrest will likely be extended on Wednesday, as the prosecution prepares to file an indictment in the coming days.