St. Clair County man charged with soliciting young girls for sex via social media

A St. Clair County man was charged after soliciting two teen-age girls for sex.

Benjamin Ingram, 32, of East Carondelet already was registered as sex offender with the sheriff’s department. Police said Ingram was using an alias while communicating with the girls.

According to the indictment, St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department received a report on July 26 from two young girls, ages 15 and 16, that an unknown male contacted them through their social media accounts asking to have sexual relations with him in exchange for money.

Police said through a release that, based on information and pictures provided by the person contacting them, that he appeared to be an adult male. Police identified Ingram by following up on the original messages and contacting the social media application sites.

The St. Clair State’s Attorney’s Office charged Ingram on Thursday with violation of sex offender registration act, two counts of indecent solicitation of a child, two counts of solicitation of a sex act from a person under age of 18, and two counts of grooming.

Ingram is being held at the St. Clair County Jail on $20,000 bond.

“In this case the girls did the right thing after having been contacted by the suspect,” St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson said. “They immediately told their mother of the contact, who called the police.

“These cases can be difficult to investigate with all the technology available to people, and communications can literally from around the world. I am glad we were able to identify this person, who is already a sex offender, and keeping him from contacting anyone else.”