WOODSTOCK — A Forsyth County man who went to a park in neighboring Cherokee County on Friday night to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl was met instead with handcuffs.
What Jose Adrian Aguilera, 24, of Cumming didn’t realize was the person with whom he had been chatting on a social dating site for months was a detective with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
Aguilera, who was arrested about 11 p.m. at Hobgood Park, was the focus of a targeted investigation, according to Cherokee Sheriff’s Lt. Jay Baker.
The probe began July 16 after Aguilera approached the detective’s undercover identity online. The detective identified himself as a 19-year-old woman and used a generic photo taken from a basic image search, according to a sheriff’s report.
While the online dating site doesn’t allow anyone younger than 18 to use its services, juveniles create fake profiles to prevent being blocked. According to the report, the detective finds a way to identify himself as a 13-year-old girl and tells interested men the photo was not “me.”
Aguilera reportedly continued to chat with the detective, beginning a sexually explicit dialogue.
He was charged with 13 counts of obscene Internet contact with a minor, two counts each of sexual exploitation of a child and electronic obscene materials to a minor and one count of attempted child molestation.
As of Monday, Aguilera remained in custody without bond at the Cherokee Adult Detention Center, according to Baker.