Police: Suspect accused of sexual assault contacted girls through Facebook
Paul Joseph Creps
Courtesy of WCSO
A 23-year-old Ypsilanti Township man arraigned Wednesday on two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct is suspected of contacting underage girls through social media websites, including Facebook.
Police are also saying that Paul Joseph Creps has a cell phone filled with images of young girls, some sent by the girls themselves and others Creps allegedly took at a community swimming pool. Some of the girls are unclothed in some of the pictures.
Creps was charged with the two counts related to one victim, described as an Ypsilanti Township female under the age of 16. Police believe Creps had sexual contact with the girl, said Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Geoff Fox.
But police think there are numerous other victims who haven’t yet been identified. “They could be anywhere in the county and possibly in other states,” said Fox.
Other possible victims have already come forward and other charges could be forthcoming. Police continue to investigate those cases.
Police have released this picture of Creps' vehicle in hopes that parents of other victims will recognize it.
Courtesy of the WCSO
Police are urging parents to ask their daughters if they had any possible contact with Creps. They have released a photograph of his vehicle with hopes parents of female teenagers who may have had contact with Creps may recognize it. The contact at the sheriff's office regarding this case is Detective Everette Robbins who can be reached at (734) 973-4884.
Creps is being held at the Washtenaw County Jail with a $75,000 cash bond.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
gary
Sat, Sep 29, 2012 : 10:51 p.m.
I went to school with this guy. I talked to him at my work about two weeks ago and i was telling him how i had just had my sone recently and he said he seen on facebook but he had deleted his now i know y!! He never seamed right in the head and was picked on alot but still no excuse!!!
victoria
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 6:36 p.m.
If you were to read the fox 2 news report all his neighbors says its a suprise. and it is. For all you people to say oh blame it on facebook, thats untrue blame it on the parents ...because the parenting leads to it all. it all goes back to how you were raised. and you havent got the clue on how paul was raised. So the only thing to do is just to see what happens, wait for all the evidence to come together. And this is coming from someone who has known paul for six years and was once in a relationship with him. And im just as suprised as everyone else that truly knows him.
lawless
Fri, Sep 28, 2012 : 6:04 a.m.
exactly victoria...ive.been a distant friend of pauls for awhile and its a suprise to me....he is a good guy fun to be around i never seen tvis coming
rs
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 3:12 p.m.
I know its a daunting task, but if Facebook doesn't do more to monitor and hinder these types of illegal activities, they will end up having the same stigma as Craigslist and people will discontinue their use of the service. Every story that comes out like this devalues Facebook's brand. This may be part of the problem why their stock isn't performing as anticipated.
rwr
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1:09 p.m.
pedophiles use Facebook now, humph.
FrankOZ
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 12:49 p.m.
I think one of the problems is that kids try to get as many friends as they can on facebook. My nieces have over 500 friends each and there is no way they know all of them. If kids only accepted friend request from people they actually know, this wouldn't be such a big issue.
Elijah Shalis
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 12:10 p.m.
If I had a kid I would just give them a dumb basic phone with no camera features.
music to my ear
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 12:10 p.m.
what boggles my mind is he is not bad looking (very ugly) on the inside.could be able to get a girl around his own age,but chose not to.what on earth could make him feel so inept that he cannot go after someone his own age.hummmm!!!!!! so if he is guilty throw the book at him but that good old plea deal will lighten the sentence. does anyone agree that plea deals should not apply to people who offend children.
Dog Guy
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 11:57 p.m.
Is the alleged perp's name pronounced with a long "e"?
lawless
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 2:10 p.m.
its pronounced creh-ps
Jim Osborn
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 12:05 p.m.
But so, so appropriate! It fits.
Bcar
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 11:34 a.m.
ha ha ha! glad im not the only one who thought that.
John Counts
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 11:21 p.m.
Hi shepherd145. Creps did allegedly have physical sexual contact with the victim, according to police. In the story we just called it "sexual contact," but that's what was meant. Police did not go into detail about the alleged incident.
victoria
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 6:41 p.m.
Do you know if this is statutory or aggravated?
shepard145
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 10:46 p.m.
...so he's in jail with a $75,000 bond but didn't actually touch any of the girls? The "victims"? Will be interesting to see how his sentence compares to murderers and "physical" criminals who don't preform crimes in "cyber space". ...sounds like the police just need to take away his phone and computer and tell him to get a job.
Meredith Counts
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 11:18 p.m.
paragraph 3: "Police believe Creps had sexual contact with the girl"
slave2work
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 10:38 p.m.
I don't understand why parents allow kids the ability to use facebook or any of the other chat forums at this age. Kids are very smart and know how to hide things. Make a page not even with their own name. Come on parents, set their phones for calls only to certain #.
A2 Born n Raised
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 3:14 p.m.
I don't see how the forum is the issue. The fact that it is somehow okay to send naked pictures of ourselves is the greater issue for me. Perhaps this is just continuing the sexualization of young girls that we see in the media and even in the stores when trying to find clothing! Cutting off social media sites would simply cut off a way to get the bigger picture of your kids. The discussions still need to happen - by blocking sites (or banning books as we have in the past), we are not dealing with the issues of lower self-esteem and whatever need the child has that is being expressed in this manner. We exist in a society where women's rights are constantly being attacked - we need to send our children (and society) a message that we are capable of making our own decisions and are much more than what you can see. This message starts at home.
RuralMom
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1:49 p.m.
Some of us have done so because we don't run from technology, we teach our children to use it properly. You don't have to "spy" on your kids, if you are active with them! All three of mine (now adults) have pages, use them properly and their friends are also friends on FB with us! Talk about seeing the ENTIRE picture, or knowing which of the friends to be leery of, who is having a rough time for any reason. Putting your head in the sand and ignoring technology is not the answer. Teaching children the ups, downs and catastrophic choices you want them to avoid, gives them very valuable lessons!
twokidsmom
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1:25 p.m.
I can't agree more with slave2work. I, as an adult now, did not use any social media and I made friends, I had conversations with my parents so that they know what I have in mind. I believe we can teach them how to communicate verbally. To me, it's very sad that so many young kids now are already so close to any type of media. If you want to know what your kids are thinking, open up a conversation, rather than monitoring what they say on their facebook.
thehawk
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1:10 a.m.
Allowing kids to use social media at a younger age allows parents more access to what they are saying and with whom. Better to teach them now, then let them make much bigger mistakes when you are not around to help them make good choices. My kids do use social media, but they are now very smart about it, in a good way.
Homeland Conspiracy
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 10:08 p.m.
"Think of the children" Ban Facebook!
Billy Bob Schwartz
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 8:47 p.m.
It's a very dangerous world out there, kids! Beware. What a creepy thing allegedly happened here. From what I read, I gather that this kind of thing goes on all over the place. Educate your kids, then check on them frequently. Trust, but verify. There is virtually no privacy left in the world anymore. Privacy used to be a major protection for young people. We need to try to get young people (and others) to be a bit skeptical about contacts on these networks.
music to my ear
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1 p.m.
I agree BB. everybodys everything is out there. and we are our own worst enemies we need to make sure our kids are protected, and they are warn all the time about online perves but some kids without adult supervision fall through the cracks. and this could be the end results,
Craig Lounsbury
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 10:35 p.m.
"There is virtually no privacy left in the world anymore. " I would contend there is as much privacy as one chooses not to surrender. The exception would be that when we are out in public there are cameras and video capability everywhere. That exception is not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion.
actionjackson
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 8:37 p.m.
More reason that parents of under age potential victims need to monitor their kid's computers and cell phone usage.
RuralMom
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 8:47 p.m.
If he pretends to be a younger age, you won't see much of anything. Being an active part of your children's daily lives can eliminate a lot of risks kid face these days.