MENTOR-ON-THE-LAKE, Ohio — A group of young girls is being praised by police for their quick thinking after they allegedly encountered a suspicious man near the Mentor Beach Park who offered to sell them drugs and said they could make money posing for his “magazine.”
At about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, a group of 15-year-old girls was approached by a 28-year-old man from Euclid near the restrooms of the park in Mentor-on-the-Lake, according to a Facebook post by the city’s police department. The man was loitering inside the building and allegedly using an outlet to charge his phone.
The man made small talk with the girls and claimed he was 21 years old. He asked them if they knew where he could buy marijuana, and he claimed “that if they ever need drugs that they could buy from him,” police stated.
The man then asked the girls if they had jobs and told them they could make money posing for his “magazine” but did not ask for nude photos, police said.
At that point, one girl left and told her parents, who called Mentor-on-the-Lake police. Officers responded to the park to investigate.
Two other girls used the man’s phone charger to charge their phone, then secured themselves in a restroom and texted a friend to come pick them up, police said.
Police arrived and identified the man. He was taken back to the station and questioned.
The girls in the bathroom were released to their parents and provided police with statements about what happened.
The facts of the case are being forward to the town’s prosecutor for possible charges against the man involved.
“Kudos to the girls involved in this incident for contacting their parents, who in turn notified the police,” police said in the post. “Additional kudos to the girls who protected themselves by locking themselves in the bathroom. Remember, please contact the police department if you see anything that seems unusual or out of place. We will respond quickly and investigate what is happening.”
