Claremore Police Searching For Predator Who Targeted 9-Year-Old Through App

Claremore police are looking for a predator who used a popular cell phone app to target a 9-year-old girl.

Claremore police say they got a call from a concerned mom who had found inappropriate conversations between her young daughter and a stranger.

Claremore police say calls like this one don't come in on a daily basis, but they come often enough to cause concern.

"The parents were concerned because they had found that the child was communicating with some unknown person,” said Claremore Police Deputy Chief Steve Cox.

Police say the mother in this case found out her 9-year-old daughter had been using an app called "Tango" on her cell phone to communicate with a stranger.

"She found some inappropriate communication either by text or pictures,” said Cox.

I downloaded Tango, and within minutes I was able to create a profile with a fake name, fake birthday, fake picture, fake everything, with zero verification.

Predators take advantage of that.

"That's one of the reasons why predators like these kinds of things; they can conceal their identity,” Cox explained. "These predators or these people like this, they know how to talk to kids. They can start relationships that seem innocent at the time."

Cox says new apps similar to this one are coming out all the time which is why it's so important for parents to check their kids' phones on a regular basis.

"If you're not in your kid's business, and when I mean that, I mean if you're not in their phone, you're going to be missing out on some stuff. You don't know what's going on,” said Cox.

He says if something seems off, call police.

If it's nothing, no harm done. But he says in this day and age, it's better to be overly cautious than not cautious enough.

Cox says they haven't caught the predator in this case, but the investigation is in the very early stages.