Man accused of trying to have sex with a 13-year-old girl arrested after undercover operation, manhunt
SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A man who allegedly tried to meet a 13-year-old for sex was arrested Monday after a multi-day manhunt.
According to the Shelbyville Police Department, 26-year-old Robert Austin Mohrmann was talking to an underage girl online and sending her explicit messages and photos.
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Shelbyville Detective Nathan Everhart oversaw the case and said once his team learned about the messages, they started communicating with Mohrmann directly.
“[We] gained consent to basically obtain her cell phone and to get into her social media account so that we could continue the conversation with him, except this time, it would be with law enforcement,” Everhart said.
Police arranged to meet Mohrmann on Wednesday, March 6, but when Mohrmann figured out authorities were waiting for him, he fled.
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“We pulled up and then he put it in reverse. He actually rammed my car, and then pulled his car towards a couple of the other detectives, almost striking a couple, especially one in particular he almost hit, and before speeding off, and he was pretty reckless,” Everhart said.
On Monday, March 11, the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department reportedly found Mohrmann and charged him with multiple crimes, including solicitation of a minor and attempted aggravated rape.
“He was definitely crying pretty hard, and that was just didn’t want to be in trouble. He got caught with his hand in the cookie jar,” Everhart said.
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The detective said cases like these are becoming more common and the victims are getting younger.
“There’s times where we will just completely make up a persona and to try to capture predators. But of course, in this case, it was a real, juvenile female that we just took over the conversation, and a lot of times, we’ll go back and look at the way that she’s talking and kind of mimic the way she’s talking, just answer the questions that he’s asking,” he said.
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