Registered sex offender allegedly engaged in sexual conversation with teen girl
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POCATELLO — A registered sex offender was arrested Monday after allegedly engaging in a sexually explicit conversation with a teen girl just over 10 years after his conviction.
Derick Anthony Alfonso, 33, is charged with one felony count of enticing a minor through the internet and one felony count of sexual exploitation of a child.
According to the Idaho State Police, he was convicted of sexual exploitation of a child back in December 2008 in Whidby Island, Washington. With that conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender.
The Bannock County Sheriff’s office was contacted on Feb. 5 by a 13-year-old girl’s father saying she had been receiving and sending sexually explicit messages and photos with Alfonso for about 10 days, according to court documents obtained by EastIdahoNews.com
As investigators looked at the conversation on Facebook Messenger, they found sexually explicit videos sent from the girl, as well as conversations between the two about sexual activities. There are also images, which are allegedly of Alfonso’s genitals.
Court documents indicate Alfonso admitted to sending and receiving images of the victim and himself over Facebook Messager as investigators began to question him. He told detectives he met the victim within the last year in a chat room. He says he didn’t know where the victim lives or had ever met her in person.
He told detectives he knew the victim was a teenager and didn’t know it was wrong for him to have conversations with her.
Alfonso is being held in the Bannock County Jail on a $30,000 bond. He is expected to appear in court on Feb. 26 for a preliminary hearing.