Crime & Safety

Police: Lafayette Student Contacted Teens Online

Alexander Clow of Bethlehem accused of meeting Salisbury teen for sex and sending explicit messages and graphic pictures to boy in Oklahoma.

A student who for about a half-year allegedly carried on an intimate electronic relationship with a 14-year-old Oklahoma boy is facing multiple felony charges including corruption of minors, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Alexander Theodore Clow, 20, of 1316 Shelbourne Drive in Bethlehem, is also accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old Salisbury Township boy with whom he met after forming a friendship through a social networking Website, police said.

Clow turned himself into police today and was released on $75,000 unsecured bail following his arraignment before  in Bethlehem.

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State police said they launched an investigation into Clow following an electronic tip received through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip came from the parents of the Oklahoma boy after they examined his iPod Touch in January, according to court records.

What state police allegedly found through their investigation was evidence of multiple electronic contacts between Clow and the 14-year-old, including sexually explicit and suggestive conversations and graphic photographs of Clow. It was clear in the conversations that Clow was aware of the boy’s age, according to court records.

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During an interview with state police, Clow admitted to the inappropriate contacts with the Oklahoma boy and the 16-year-old Salisbury Township boy, the arrest warrant says.

Clow met with the Salisbury boy at the South Mall in Salisbury Township and subsequently visited his home where the two had sexual contact, according to court records.

The relationship with the 14-year-old boy from Oklahoma was carried on across multiple Internet sites and a cellular telephone account and on multiple devices, according to court records. At least one of the explicit images was sent via a Lafayette College e-mail account.

Police seized five devices from Clow, which were kept at home in Bethlehem where his parents live and a dormitory room at Farber Hall at Lafayette College.

The devices were forensically examined for evidence of the inappropriate contacts with both boys, state police said.

According to court documents, Clow and the Oklahoma boy met via the Internet during the summer of 2011 on chatroulette.com, a Website that pairs up strangers with web cameras from around the world for face-to-face conversations.

During the initial meeting, Clow told the boy that he is a psychology major and philosophy minor at Lafayette College. After an hour, Clow asked the boy if he could masturbate into the camera, according to the arrest warrant. After Clow masturbated, the conversation continued for several more hours.

Clow faces two felony counts of corruption of minors, one felony count of unlawful contact with a minor, one felony count of criminal use of a communications facility and one misdemeanor charge of obscenity.


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