The girl, also a Havertown resident, had posted messages that she was home alone, depressed and lonely after an argument with a family member.Īuthorities say this case highlights why parents need to know what their teens are doing on their cell phones. Police said Joseph Valiquette, 22, of Havertown targeted the girl through the app, which is an anonymous social network where people don't have to let others know who they are. A Delaware County man has been charged with raping a 14-year-old girl that he met on 'Whisper,' a social media app. Prosecutors wanted Peterson’s bail set at $100,000, claiming the alleged rapist “is a substantial danger to commit a violent offense or otherwise interfere with the administration of justice,” the Fox affiliate reported.Teen raped by man she met on 'Whisper' App, authorities say as reported by Dann Cuellar during Action News at 11 on October 4, 2018.

He was later charged with luring and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, according to Q13. Peterson, who doesn’t have a prior criminal record, was arrested and taken to the Snohomish County Jail on suspicion of rape charges. “Around here, those things don’t happen.” “I’m kind of shocked,” neighbor Richard Whipple told KIRO. The alleged rape rattled the neighborhood where the 12-year-old girl lives. 'This one is problematic because it shotguns information out and identifies a certain area that you are in,” Sutton told the station. Lake Forest Park Police Chief Stephen Sutton said Whisper can be a tool for sexual predators since users can post their location and opine on everything from adultery to alcohol, Seattle CBS affiliate KIRO reported. Peterson eventually convinced the girl to meet him, and she snuck out of her home to join him at a Lynwood hotel. He claimed he was 21 years old, and she said she was 14, according to police. Their online relationship reportedly began in September, when Peterson started messaging with the girl.

Ronald Peterson III, 21, of Lynwood, Wash., told detectives he used Whisper to communicate with the underage girl, Seattle Fox affiliate Q13 reported earlier this month. Washington state detectives claim that a man arrested for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl admitted that he sought out the girl through Whisper, a meeting app that encourages users to post secrets.

Whisper app arrested