Cape man arrested for allegedly sending sexual text messages to child

A Cape Girardeau man was arrested last week for allegedly sending sexually-charged text messages to a minor.

George A. Henry, 33, was arrested by Cape Girardeau Police Department officers Dec. 29 and is charged with enticement or attempted enticement of a child under the age of 15.

According to a probable-cause statement, Henry’s sister alerted patrolman Jacob Monteith that Henry was sending sexual texts to a minor and showed Monteith the messages. She allowed Monteith to search the home for Henry, who was hiding in a closet on the second floor.

After being detained, Henry gave Monteith permission to search his phone, according to the statement. Monteith noticed the sexually-charged messages he had seen earlier had been deleted, and there was a noticeable gap in the text thread from approximately 5 a.m. to 11:08 a.m.

When confronted with the information, Henry claimed he didn’t send any inappropriate messages overnight, the statement said. He told Monteith he went to sleep at around 11 p.m. Dec. 28, and had plugged his phone into its charger at the time. Henry said that when he woke up Dec. 29, he discovered his phone was not plugged into the charger and the battery was low. Henry told Monteith he believed someone had entered his room overnight and sent inappropriate texts to the minor, then deleted them so he wouldn’t see them.

Monteith then spoke with Henry’s sister again who informed him Henry had been sending sexual texts to the minor since Dec. 1, and showed him a screenshot from just before 6 a.m. on that date.

Enticement or attempted enticement of a child is an unclassified felony, punishable by five to 30 years in prison without the possibility for parole, probation, conditional release or suspended imposition of sentence for at least five years.

Henry was booked into the Cape Girardeau County Jail on Dec. 30 and remains in custody on a $25,000 bond.