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4 men arrested for molesting teen met from phone app

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — Four men have been arrested after authorities said they molested a 13-year-old girl they met through a phone application.

Authorities arrested 25-year-old Evan Miller, 21-year-old George Pearcy, 23-year-old Mathew Filipek and 23-year-old Thomas Snape in connection with the crime.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said the sexual encounters stem from fall of 2016 when the victim would meet up at the men’s residences after talking through the Whisper phone application, which is a social media application that allows users to chat anonymously.

The victim had previously told school officials that she’d been involved in a relationship with a 25-year-old man who knew that she was underage.

The victim then admitted to MCSO investigators that she had been sexually involved with three other men in the Bloomington area, which led to corroborating physical evidence.

All four men face a preliminary felony count of child molestation. Snape also faces a charge of possession of a controlled substance.

Monroe County Sheriff Brad Swain released a statement to warn parents of the  Whisper app’s potential danger:

Parents should be mindful that with the anonymity which this particular app provides, the presence of it on their child’s electronic devices, should be suspect. There is an extremely high risk potential for tragedy to happen when technology such as Whisper can facilitate a child’s reckless decisions. Constantly monitor and guide your child’s activity on whatever electronic devices you allow or know them to use.”

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