A 37-year-old Detroit cop was charged Wednesday with a felony count of accosting a child for immoral purposes after authorities allege he sent inappropriate text messages to a 12-year-old girl in Warren.
Earl Raynard Anderson, Jr. faces up to four years in prison.
On Wednesday morning, Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison suspended Anderson and plans to urge the elected police commission to strip him of his salary.
“These allegations are concerning. Troubling to be exact,” Bettison told Metro Times in a statement. “Because the alleged crime occurred in the city of Warren, the Warren Police Department has taken the lead on the investigation. Pursuant to DPD’s policy, our Internal Affairs Unit is conducting a parallel administrative investigation. Earlier today I suspended Officer Anderson from duty. Next, I will submit paperwork to the Board of Police Commissioners to remove Officer Anderson from our department payroll!”
Anderson was arraigned in 37th District Court in Warren, where a $200,000 cash bond was set.
The charges come one day after the girl’s father posted screenshots of disturbing text messages from Officer Earl Anderson to the child in February.
According to the screenshots, Anderson asked the girl if she had a date to a Valentine’s dance and called her “mature.”
“U can be real with me,” he allegedly texted. “I don’t care if u curse or be ur self. I won’t tell ur people. I’m gonna treat u like ur grown ur mature enough.”
Asked how she felt about it, she responded, “Alrt.”
In other messages, Anderson allegedly encouraged the girl to play the life simulation game The Sims with him.
“The game never works for me,” she responded.
“Why,” Anderson allegedly messaged her. “U can date, family party n more on there.”
According to copies of the messages, Anderson tried to coach the girl on hiding the messages from her family.
“Alright. If u wanna keep texting u will have to keep our conversation between me and u,” he texted. “On some friendly type stuff?”
She told him her dad monitors her phone.
“Oh lol,” Anderson allegedly responded. “Well delete these messages. If u figure something out let me know Z.”
When she said she created a new account on her iPad, he expressed concern that her dad could still see the messages.
“If u find a safe way for us to text let me know,” he allegedly texted. “But make sure u delete all these text messages even in ur messages trash. Nice talk to u tho Z.”
Metro Times is not identifying the father to protect his daughter’s identity.
Metro Times called and texted Anderson for a comment, but he has not responded.
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido, who filed the charges, said no one is above the law.
“The safety and well-being of our children is our top priority,” Lucido said. “We should be able to trust police officers to protect our children, not prey on them. These charges reflect our commitment to holding offenders accountable, no matter their position, and ensuring justice for the most vulnerable members of our community.”
