SAN ANTONIO — A 19-year-old Connecticut man is behind bars in Bexar County after flying to Texas for sex with an underage girl, authorities say.
According to Sheriff Javier Salazar, Christopher Vargas had been messaging the 15-year-old victim since March. The teen's parents were alerted when a neighbor noticed "an unknown male walking between their homes" when they were out.
The girl initially told her parents Vargas was 17, Salazar said, before investigators discovered he was an adult.
"Kudos to the neighbor for being a heads-up neighbor, noticing what was going on, taking some evidence," Salazar said, adding Vargas "pretty much gave a full confession" when he met with investigators.
He's been jailed on a charge of sexual assault of a child, and will remain in Texas for now.
Adding urgency to the situation, officials also said they found messages from the victim's friends suggesting that she get a burner phone to communicate with Vargas.
"That’s concerning," Salazar said. "If she’d done that, the parents would not have known.”
He recommended that parents not only make sure they're aware of who their kids are messaging, but also of any devices they're unfamiliar with that their children may be using.
"Please know who your children are communicating with," Salazar offered as a reminder.
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