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Richmond Police identify suspect in mystery penis pic text message case

Posted at 10:03 PM, Jun 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-08 10:11:50-04

RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond Police have identified a suspect in the case involving inappropriate text messages sent to unsuspecting victims.

In December 2015, viewers in Chesterfield, Richmond, Essex County told CBS 6 they had received a text message from an unidentified man that showed a man’s penis.

In total, more than 16 women and one man contacted us saying they had received the same illicit photo.

penispic

Richmond Police said their detectives have worked closely with partner agencies to develop a suspect in this case.

Police did not specify how many cases the suspect is wanted for or the localities where they have been reported.

At this time no arrest has been made, but police said patrol officers and detectives are actively searching for the known male suspect.

Information Technology expert Gregory Bell said people who send these kinds of pictures could face up to five years behind bars.

Messages sent with an App?

Some victims gave CBS 6 the number used to send the message.  CBS 6 shared those numbers with Patrick Siewert, who owns Pro Digital Forensic Consulting.

“I have no record of the numbers at all in an investigative database that I have access to,” Siewert said.

Siewert said he believes the calls were made with a free app used to send texts from spoof or hoax numbers.

“Text plus assigns its own number when you install the app,” Siewert said.

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