A Las Cruces man has been indicted after police say he seduced a 13-year-old California girl and a 15-year-old Arizona girl through MySpace and cell-phone camera. Las Cruces police arrested Michael P. Thurlo, 21, of the 1000 block of Triviz Drive, a month ago.
A Dona Ana County grand jury Thursday indicted him on 13 counts of criminal sexual exploitation of a child (possessing photos and a recording), one count of criminal sexual communication with a child, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of soliciting a child by electronic communication.
Thurlo was released from the Dona Ana County Detention Center on March 19 after one week's incarceration. The investigation began in September when the mother of a 13-year-old girl in Tehachaphi, Calif., alerted police after she reported finding a picture of a man's face and a picture of a man's genitalia on her daughter's cell phone. The mother also produced a handwritten letter in which Thurlo allegedly wrote that he loved the girl, intended to marry her and wanted to have children with her.
Police said the 13-year-old girl looked 10 years old based on
non-sexual photographs on her MySpace profile, according to court documents.
The girl identified the sender of the items as Thurlo, whom she said she met on MySpace in June 2009, when she "randomly added him as a friend to her account" and told him she was 15. That day, Thurlo allegedly wrote that she was "not too young" for him and that he wanted to be in a relationship. In the following months, the two allegedly engaged in what court documents describe as "very sexually explicit conversations."
Thurlo's MySpace profile, which was locked by authorities, contained a post to his blog from a few days before police were notified - "I love you Alexis, forever and for always, baby, you and me together until the end" - and a photo album called "My Baby" containing five photographs of the 13-year-old, two titled "the love of my life, my baby."
After police began investigating, Thurlo allegedly met another girl, age 15, from Arizona, when she sent a text message to his number by mistake. He told police they also became engaged, "but they are waiting to get married until she turns 18 years old."
In October, Thurlo allegedly got back in contact with the 13-year-old California girl, this time calling himself "Chris, a.k.a. The Wolf" and writing "that he was afraid the police would be looking for him, so he left the country for a couple of days." Throughout October, the sexually explicit conversations allegedly started up again.
When the Arizona girl traveled to New Mexico over the holidays, Thurlo allegedly traveled here to meet her. The girl's mother said she thought Thurlo was only 16 or 17. Police reported finding 11 lewd images and one lewd video of the Arizona girl, date-stamped in 2010.