Social networking helps Ohio police nab suspect

January 20, 2011 at 8:36p.m.

MONROEVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Police say social networking helped lead to the arrest of a man accused of sending hundreds of sexually oriented text messages to young girls and others in northwest Ohio.

Monroeville police Capt. James Bond said Thursday that two Bellevue men posted messages on social network sites that they allegedly received from suspect Jason Paul Starkey. Bond says the postings alerted the public and led to numerous calls from people who reported receiving similar messages.

The Sandusky Register reports the two men baited the suspect by posing as a teenage girl.

Bond says 31-year-old Starkey was arrested on telecommunications harassment, impersonating a police officer and resisting arrest charges. He is in the Huron County jail in Norwalk.