The Del City, Oklahoma father, who did not want his name released, uses the Family Time app. This app allows him to monitor his children’s use of cellphones and text messages and block content he believes to be inappropriate for their use. By the using this app, the dad discovered his 15-year-old daughter was engaged in sexually explicit conversations with an adult male.
According to the police report the man and the teen talked about having sex in a tent in the girl’s backyard and made arrangements. Posing as the 15-year-old, the father messaged the man to make sure he was going to show up. And he said he was.
When the man was to meet the teen, the 15-year-old’s stepmother was in the tent to act as a decoy. The father and other male relatives were in the house. What took place in the backyard was captured on surveillance video. The video shows a man, identified as Jeremy Dewayne Gibson, in the backyard going over to the tent. When he opens the flap, four men run out of the house and tackle him. Gibson’s hands and feet were tied up with zip ties and he was held until police arrived. He was not injured. The father said the man admitted to he was there to have sex with his daughter. Although Gibson allegedly told police he just wanted to talk to the girl, he was in possession of a condom.
Of the family’s actions, Major Jody Suit of the Del City Police Department said “I feel like it’s a parent’s right to do whatever they need to do to protect their children. As a father, I understand, I feel that he did what he thought was best.” Suit also said Gibson was acquainted with the family and knew the girl was only 15.
Gibson was charged with unlawful communication by the use of technology, using a phone and social media to communicate with a minor. He has since bonded out of jail.
Police also believe the 15-year-old was communicating with a sexual predator in New York. Police in that jurisdiction are investigating.
