LITCHFIELD, Conn. — An Ansonia man has been arrested for sending inappropriate messages and requests for inappropriate pictures to a teenager over Instagram, according to Connecticut State Police.
State police arrested 27-year-old Michael Bernaud at Troop L on Wednesday, and he was charged with risk of injury to a child.
The parents of a 13-year-old boy called Connecticut State Police on March 9 to investigate inappropriate Instagram direct messages (DM) that Bernaud was sending to the teen.
The victim told police that he and his parents attended an event in Orange in April 2022, where the victim saw Bernaud.
The victim joined an Instagram group relating to arcade restaurants in December 2023 and was introduced to Bernaud, who was also in the group, according to the arrest warrant.
Police investigated Instagram DM conversations that the victim and Bernaud had between January and March 2024.
The earlier conversations related to Bernaud wanting to sell items from older restaurants but needing time to get them out of the storage unit.
As they chatted more frequently, DMs with Bernaud became weird, "pedophile type" conversations, the victim told investigators. Bernaud asked the victim to send shirtless pictures and asked him inappropriate questions numerous times, the investigation revealed.
There came a point where Bernaud offered to give the victim a ride to an event in Rhode Island. When the victim asked his parents about it, his parents discovered the ongoing situation, the arrest warrant states.
Bernaud was released on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on May 1.
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