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Man accused of seeking nude teen photos is jailed

NILES — A 28-year-old Liberty man is in custody, accused of soliciting nude photos from a 16-year-old student with an intellectual disability and then attempting to sign her out Monday from school.

Marcus Aaron Washington, 28, 10 Trumbull Court, Liberty, is facing charges of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, a felony; and a misdemeanor of contributing to delinquency.

Washington is accused of using the username Moses Luther King to chat with the 16-year-old Niles McKinley High School student overnight Sunday, first on the dating application Badoo then on social media app Snapchat, according to a police report. The student told police that she believed “Mosesã” was a 28-year-old man, and gave him her correct age during their conversation.

After switching to Snapchat, Washington allegedly used suggestive language in requesting photos from the student. Among the photos sent were two nude pictures showing the student’s buttocks, which the user Moses Luther King appeared to save. “Moses” did not send any sexual photos of himself, the student told police.

The student told “Mosesã” to sign her out from school on Monday with the belief he would take her to Target to buy whatever she wanted and then go back to his house, the report states.

Washington attempted to sign her out around 8 a.m. Monday but left when the school’s attendance officer asked him to make sure he was authorized to take the student out of school. Surveillance video showed Washington leaving the school property in what appeared to be a white 2000s Mercedes.

Police searched the user Moses Luther King on Facebook and found an account with the same profile picture shown in screenshots of the student’s conversations. Marcus Washington was listed as the technical user name for that Facebook account, according to the police report.

Police matched a photo of Washington from the Law Enforcement Automated Database System to the profile pictures and school surveillance video. LEADS also listed Washington’s vehicle as a white 2009 Mercedes.

In a subsequent phone call with a McKinley school resource officer, Washington acknowledged driving a white Mercedes to the high school and being on the property on Monday, according to the report.

Washington is being held at the Trumbull County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

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