MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 48-year-old man is accused of posing as a music producer to lure a teenage girl into a sexual relationship.
Oliver Duckworth is facing charges after police say he had an ongoing sexual relationship with a girl who was just 16 years old. She says she met the man on social media.
No one answered the door Tuesday at the South Memphis home off Humber where the crime allegedly happened.
Duckworth told a teenage girl he recorded music. She says she met him on the social media app Snapchat, where he claimed to be music producer.
The teen told police Duckworth had an Uber bring her to the home back in November 2020. They were supposed to record music but soon started having a sexual relationship.
The girl said she told Duckworth she was 16 but the inappropriate relationship continued. Through their investigation detectives found messages between Duckworth and the 16-year-old discussing her age and smoking marijuana.
This is the second time in the last few days we’ve told you about a teenager meeting a stranger online that ends in an arrest.
Last week another 16-year-old girl told police she met up with a man she met on Facebook. When he picked her up he held her at gunpoint and raped her in another south Memphis neighborhood.
Sandy Bromley, executive director of the Shelby County Crime Victims and Rape Crisis Center, says as we head into summer, more and more teens have access to social media. While parents can’t be everywhere and know everything their child does, they should try to build trust and make sure they have a plan in case they feel unsafe.
“It’s really scary to think that your child can go on TikTok or Facebook or something just to have some fun, and the next thing you know they’re being offered money and gifts and other things and at that point they just don’t have the wherewithal, the level of brain capacity to understand the danger,” Bromley said.
Duckworth’s bond is $5,000.
