A Detroit police officer is facing charges for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to a young girl.
Officer Earl Raynard Anderson Jr., 37, has been charged with accosting a child for immoral purposes, a four-year felony, according to the Macomb County prosecutor’s office.
The investigation, conducted by the Warren Police Department’s Special Victim’s Division, revealed that Anderson, who is the spouse of the 12-year-old victim’s mother, sent numerous sexualized messages to the child during late-night and early-morning hours, according to Warren police.
Police say messages were subsequently deleted by Anderson, who instructed the victim to do so. However, investigators were able to recover the deleted messages which corroborated the victim’s account of events.
Photos from the family show some of the alleged text messaging they were able to obtain.
Chief Todd Bettison released the following statement:
“These allegations are concerning. Troubling to be exact. Because the alleged crime occurred in the city of Warren, the Warren Police Department has taken the lead on the investigation. Pursuant to DPD’s policy, our Internal Affairs Unit is conducting a parallel administrative investigation. Earlier today I suspended Officer Anderson from duty. Next, I will submit paperwork to the Board of Police Commissioners to remove Officer Anderson from our department payroll!” (News & Information Release Only)
