LIVINGSTON COUNTY, Mich. – A Livingston County man is facing charges after he allegedly sent sexually explicit messages, images and videos to someone who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Last week, Richard Green, 54, of Gregory, was arraigned on four counts of child sexually abusive activity, four counts of using a computer to commit a crime, and one count of evidence tampering.
On Friday, April 25, a Unadilla Township detective met with a woman who had been impersonating a 13-year-old girl online.
The witness gave them hours of recorded conversation and hundreds of pages of screenshots of the conversations between her and Green.
Green allegedly sent her sexually explicit photos and videos and had tried to meet her for sex multiple times, according to the police department.
As police were investigating the case, the witness posted the evidence she had on her social media website and identified Green as the suspect.
“This forewarned the suspect who was able to destroy what is believed to be significant evidence in the case, as well as increased the risk to other minor children in the home and the involved officers,” according to police.
Unadilla Township Police Chief David Russell expressed concerns over the witness making her findings public in the case.
“It is common that in cases of this nature there are other victims who have not come forward,” said Russell. “While we do not have any indication that this defendant committed other acts, if there was any evidence of that, it would have been possibly located on the defendant’s electronic devices and it was likely destroyed as a result of him being given advance notice from the social media post.”
Green was taken into custody without incident.
During an interview, Green told police that he would impersonate his wife while texting the girl to make her feel safe, and had encouraged the witness to befriend his daughter so that she “had an excuse to come to his residence.”
He was arraigned on May 1 and given a $300,000 bond.