When a 25-year-old Centreville man allegedly sent a photo of his private parts over the Internet, police say he believed the recipient was a 14-year-old girl.
Instead, much to his surprise and dismay, "she" turned out to be a "he" — and a Manassas Park police investigator — and the Centreville man was busted. Arrested June 28 was Timothy J. Withrow Jr. of 5146 Winding Woods Drive in the Sully Station community.
FAIRFAX COUNTY police Det. Craig Paul, of the Child Services Section of the Criminal Investigations Bureau, explained the case against Withrow in a June 28 affidavit for a warrant to search the man's home for possible evidence.
Paul wrote that he met with Investigator H.M. Perry of the Manassas Park Police Department on that date. He also noted that Perry is assigned to the Northern Virginia Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, as is Paul.
Perry told the detective that, on May 2, a person with the Yahoo screen name, "he_is_timmy," contacted him while he was in an Internet chat room posing as a 14-year-old female.
"During subsequent chats later, the conversation began to have sexual overtones," wrote Paul. "During a chat with the subject, the subject asked if [she] wanted to see a picture and subsequently sent an image of a penis. When asked if [it] was his, the subject known as "he_is_timmy" stated that it was."
Perry was able to obtain the IM profile for this screen name from Yahoo. And the profile I.D. identified "he_is_timmy" with a photo of a male which was later reportedly matched with a Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles photo of Withrow.
Wrote Paul: "Further investigation revealed that a subpoena to Yahoo indicated that the screen name, "he_is_timmy," is [allegedly] registered to Timothy J. Withrow Jr. of Winding Woods Drive in Centreville."
Police executed the search warrant June 28 and seized a JVC mini digital video recorder, a jump drive, four computers, a DVD, VHS tapes and a Nikon Coolpix digital camera. They charged Withrow with use of communications systems to facilitate certain offenses involving children, and attempted indecent liberties with a minor.
He was later released from jail and has a Sept. 28 court date in Prince William County.