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David Farmer (August 3, 2012) |
A recently paroled sex offender is back in custody after allegedly using Facebook to solicit teenage girls for sex, police said.
David Anthony Farmer, 27, is incarcerated in the Boyle County Detention Center for alleged failure to register as a sex offender and being a “registrant prohibited from using social networking website or instant messaging or chatroom program accessible by minors.” More charges may be pending, said Boyle County Sheriff Marty Elliott.
Farmer was staying at the Super 8 motel in Danville after recently being paroled for third-degree rape of a 15-year-old girl, Elliott said. During his stay at the hotel, Farmer allegedly created a Facebook profile and used it to solicit a 16-year-old girl for sex, the sheriff said.
“We do not know how many children he contacted,” Elliott said.
Farmer, who is not from Danville, came to local authorities’ attention earlier this week when a Boyle sheriff’s deputy on his way to serve an unrelated warrant spotted Farmer and a teenage girl sitting by the side of Knob Lick Road in Junction City.
“The deputy was suspicious because it just didn’t look right, this man in his 20s with a teenage girl,” Elliott said.
The deputy spoke to Farmer, who allegedly claimed he was living at the Super 8 in Danville. However, when deputies contacted Super 8, they learned Farmer no longer was staying there. Also, a quick Internet search brought up a Facebook profile linked to Farmer, Elliott said.
After authorities contacted the 16-year-old girl and her family, she told police she had sex with Farmer while he was staying at the Super 8. But in Kentucky, she is considered old enough to consent to sexual activity so no charges are expected from that case, the sheriff said.
However, authorities are still investigating Farmer’s other social networking activities while he was in Danville.
“This person is definitely a predator,” Elliott said. “Virtually as soon as he got out of prison, he was online targeting children.”
The sheriff encourages parents to review their children’s Facebook friends lists on a regular basis to ensure there are no unknown adults such as Farmer in their social networks.
Parents also should look for profiles that do not have a photo or unknown adults who attempt to engage their children in conversation.
