Peachtree City man accused of arranging to meet up with teenage girl

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - A Peachtree City man was arrested and accused of arranging to meet up with a teenage girl.

Peachtree City detectives arrested 41-year-old Ricardo Laverde at his home on Tuesday.

“He was arrested last night at his residence by detectives, during the commission of what he thought was a prearranged meeting with the juvenile," Peachtree City Lt. Chris Hyatt said.

LT Hyatt said the teenager’s school counselor is the one who notified the parents about the inappropriate conversations between the two.

“The parents' victim reached out to us yesterday. The detectives picked it up from there. We began speaking with the counselor, the victim, going through the communication devices," he said.

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Within hours, detectives were at Laverde’s door.

According to investigators, the two started talking to each other during the summer.

“He reached out to her on a social media platform. They had been messaging back and forth through the application," Hyatt said.

He said situations like this are an important reminder to keep an eye on your children's online activity.

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Monitoring and asking questions might seem like an invasion of privacy, but Hyatt said it just might be what keeps them safe from danger.

"It's important to know exactly who your children are talking to, what apps they're using, and try to monitor that to the best of your ability, whether that be having full access to their passcodes. These are juveniles that quite frankly, don't need that privacy. It's for their own good," Hyatt said.

Laverde has been charged with enticing a minor. The investigation is ongoing.

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