Police in Indiana say they arrested an Amish man who arrived in a horse-drawn buggy for a presumed rendezvous with a 12-year-old girl to whom he had sent sexually explicit cell phone messages.
Officers arrested 21-year-old William R. Yoder on Wednesday after he rode up to the Takathemoke Restaurant in Milroy, Indiana, and approached an undercover agent.
"The suspect arrived, in a one-horse carriage as he said he would, was identified by the undercover officer confirming his identity and was taken into custody without incident," said Connersville, Indiana, police Detective Craig Pennington.
Yoder was taken to Fayette County Jail, about 60 miles east of Indianapolis, where in a videotaped statement he confessed that he sent video messages, naked pictures of himself and lewd text messages.
According to Pennington, Yoder said he believed he was going to have sex with the girl, that he realized it was a bad decision and that he had never done anything like it before.
The case came to light after the girl's parents contacted police in Connersville to report that their daughter had received three sexually explicit messages, including a request that she send back naked pictures of herself, Pennington said.
The phone was handed over to Indiana State Police, and a forensic examination revealed that 600 text messages, along with six picture messages and two video messages, had been exchanged between the girl and Yoder.
"I am happy that no further victimization occurred, and that he was at least truthful about his description," Pennington said, "and I believe that the communication between child and parent, however awkward it may have been, was crucial in stopping this behavior and culminated in a successful arrest and seizure of the suspect and his cell phone."
Bond was set at $20,000 with a preliminary trial date of September 19.