SELMA, Texas – A profile photo linked to a PayPal account helped Selma investigators identify a man accused of online solicitation of a 13-year-old girl, according to an arrest affidavit.
Sean Jude Joseph Jr., 21, was arrested on a charge of online solicitation of a minor under 14 years old, jail records show.
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Selma police responded to a call at a home on July 3 after a mother discovered sexually explicit messages on her 13-year-old daughter’s phone, the affidavit states. The messages were sent through Instagram between June 14 and June 26.
The mother reported the suspect deleted most of his messages before officers arrived, but she had seen some of the messages before they were removed, according to the affidavit. The mother also told investigators the suspect tried to contact her through Telegram using a phone number.
Investigators later obtained a grand jury subpoena for the Instagram subscriber information. The affidavit states Instagram’s parent company provided investigators with a phone number and email linked with the account — the same phone number the suspect had used to try to contact the mother.
The affidavit states investigators searched for the phone number, which was registered to a relative of Joseph living in Missouri City, Texas, where Joseph also resides.
The mother entered the phone number into PayPal and found an account under the name “Sean Joseph” with a profile photo attached, the affidavit states. She showed the photo to her daughter, who identified the person in the image as the person she had communicated with.
The PayPal profile photo showed a person wearing the same necklace as the one worn by Joseph in his Texas driver’s license photo, a detail that helped confirm his identity, the affidavit states.
The teen later provided additional details about her interactions with Joseph during a forensic interview, according to the affidavit.
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