BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Kansas man befriended an 8-year-old Bloomfield Township girl while playing an online game and persuaded her to send him nude videos in exchange for currency used in that game, police said.
A woman called Bloomfield Township police around 10:30 a.m. June 23 about an inappropriate relationship between her 8-year-old daughter and a man who called himself “John.”
Recommended Videos
The woman said her daughter and “John” became friends while playing an online game called Roblox. He persuaded the girl to send him videos of her “in various stages of undress” in exchange for online currency used in Roblox, according to authorities.
Bloomfield Township investigators found more than 20 videos on the iPad and identified “John” as Clinton McElroy, 48, of Ellis, Kansas.
Bloomfield Township officers called the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office and learned McElroy had been arrested in 2017 for a similar crime, officials said.
McElroy is a registered sex offender in Kansas, police said.
Ellis County officials went to McElroy’s home around 4 p.m. Sept. 17 and took him into custody. He was taken to the Ellis County Jail.
McElroy was arraigned Friday (Sept. 18) on charges of sexual exploitation of a child and aggravated internet trading in child pornography. He is being held at the Ellis County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
The investigation is ongoing, and McElroy is awaiting his next court date, according to authorities.