What started as a mother’s gut instinct led to a federal indictment in Southeast Michigan on a disturbing case of online exploitation involving a 15-year-old girl. And investigators say, with cases involving accused child predators like this, there are often more victims out there.
“It has to be agonizing, one, to discover your child has been subjected to such a thing, and then two, to go through the process of contacting police,” said Det. Kelly Bowden with the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office.
This week, a federal grand jury indicted 37-year-old Nicholas Charles Toecker of Midland on four counts: sexual exploitation of a minor, coercion and enticement, and receipt and possession of child sexually abusive material.
Bowden said the case highlights not only the emotional toll on victims, but also the difficulty of investigating crimes that often begin online.
“They’re very challenging,” Bowden said. “There’s a lot of barriers that we have to find ways around, and it’s traumatizing to the children in the first place to have to tell us about these things that they’ve experienced.”
According to investigators, the victim’s mother discovered inappropriate Snapchat messages between her daughter and an unknown man earlier this year. Acting quickly, she contacted the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office.
Detectives later learned the teen admitted to meeting Toecker through Snapchat in October of 2024 and meeting him multiple times for sex in Macomb County, most recently in May of 2025.
Investigators said Toecker also recorded the encounters, requested nude images and videos, and offered drugs and vapes in exchange for sex.
“It is not the children’s fault, it is not the parents’ fault, it is not society’s fault,” Bowden said. “It is squarely on the person who willingly and knowingly is choosing to engage in this behavior.”
Bowden said predators often use a range of digital platforms to lure and manipulate minors — far beyond the usual social media apps like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Kik or X.
“They use whatever means they can to get access to these children and then to find the ones that are most vulnerable,” Bowden said. “They go into things like Roblox, they go into these online gaming rooms, they go into Discord where all the gamers are talking about the game they are playing.”
The detective added that the pace of technological change makes it nearly impossible to stay ahead of online predators.
“Technology evolves so fast it’s nearly impossible to keep up with it,” Bowden said.
Toecker was arrested Oct. 10 in Livingston County and remains in federal custody.
Investigators fear, as with many alleged predators, that Toecker may have targeted other minors.
“There’s not a doubt in my mind that we would find additional children,” Bowden said. “And that’s been the case typically with a lot of investigations I’ve done like this.”
Authorities said the mother’s quick action may have stopped this case from going even further — a reminder that sometimes, trusting your instincts makes all the difference.
Resources
If you believe someone you know may be in danger, please call your local police department, the FBI, or OK2Say.
- OK2Say: https://www.michigan.gov/ok2say