Southfield man charged with sending pornographic video to 14-year-old

Suspect made contact with teen by responding to her babysitting ad on Craigslist, police say

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. – A Southfield man has been charged after he allegedly tried to "entice" a 14-year-old girl to meet him at a hotel and sent her a pornographic video to her cellphone, police said.

"She posted a little too much personal information on the internet," said Detective Gordie Carrier of St. Clair Shores Police. "An image of her face, her cell phone number that allowed him to contact her right away."

St. Clair Shores police said Mark Steven Cohen made contact with the teen -- a Lakeview High School student -- by responding to her ad on Craigslist for a babysitting job.

He began texting with the teen and asked her to meet him at a hotel in Detroit, police said.

"He offered her $800 if she would come to his house and follow all of his rules," said mom Heather Stahl of St. Clair Shores.

The girl was advertising her services as a babysitter to earn money for a school trip

"I suggested we start an ad on Craigslist for babysitting to earn some extra money," said Stahl. "She has the opportunity to go to New York with her school choir."

"She posted the ad at 6:30 p.m. by 12:30 a.m. she received a text from a man asking her to babysit the next day in Livonia," said Stahl. "He asked her for new photos, he sent her pictures of his penis and would say extremely inappropriate things to her."

 After the teen reported Cohen to police, investigators worked with an FBI task force to execute a search warrant and submit a report to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.

"We had a search warrant on his residence and evidence we found on computers and cell phones may connect to other crimes," said Dect. Carrier.

Cohen is charged with accosting a minor for immoral purposes, two counts of using a computer to commit a felony and distributing sexually explicit material to a minor. He was arraigned Thursday and is being held in the Macomb County Jail.

Police said a complaint involving a similar situation was filed in 2010 against Cohen, but he was never charged.

"She's deleted her Facebook Page, Instagram, everything and I will never use Craigslist again," said Stahl. "You just never know who's on the other end."