14-Year-Old Sexting Victim’s Mother Speaks With The News On 6

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- A 14-year-old girl speaks out after a man was arrested for trying to entice the girl to have sex with him.

It was not some stranger who approached this girl randomly. He is a parent of a student at the girl's same middle school who was hanging out at football practice and asked the girl if he could borrow her phone.

Police say he called his phone with it so he would have her number, then the text messages began that very night.

The girl's mother says the text messages seemed innocent enough, asking her bedtime, telling the girl goodnight and saying things like good morning sunshine.

It was still strange enough that the girl told her school counselor and her mom the next day.

We've protected the mother's identity, to protect the girl.

"She was point blank, mom, mommy, I've been getting these text messages from a parent and I'm kind of scared," "Brenda," Victims Mother, said.

"Brenda" says she took control of the phone for awhile and says the text messages from the parent continued and the tone changed.

"Every day, it progressed a little bit more, hey girl, I just got out of the shower," "Brenda" said.

She says when he asked for a picture of her daughter, that's when Brenda went to the Tulsa police cyber crimes unit and detectives took the phone and assumed the identity of the 14-year-old girl.

They say the messages became sexually graphic and the man sent several nude pictures of his privates and eventually set up a time to meet.

At that meeting place, detectives arrested 31-year-old Derecko "Reko" Eugene Sells.

Public records show he is an ex-con with previous drug convictions. Police say he showed up, thinking he was going to have sex with the girl and admitted he was the one who had been sending the texts.

"Just the mental anguish, is going to be awhile to recuperate, nothing physical, thank goodness it wasn't physical, but it is the mental anguish," "Brenda" said.

When The News On 6 asked Brenda, why she just didn't send a text, telling him to get lost, she said she was afraid he would simply move on to another girl and worried about what could happen.

She urges parents to talk to their kids and check their phones daily because she was surprised by two things, this was someone her daughter knew and how it evolved so subtly from casual conversation to sex.