Tacoma woman and man arrested after child-sex texts noticed during flight

TACOMA, Wash. – A Tacoma man and woman were arrested after a fellow passenger on a flight out of Sea-Tac caught a glimpse of the man’s texts messages and saw that they were about child sexual exploitation, Seattle police said in a press release Wednesday evening.

On a flight to San Jose on Monday, police said, the Tacoma man was texting on a large phone using a large font. His fellow passenger became disturbed and surreptitiously took pictures of the messages and contacted authorities as soon as the plane landed.

Police detained the man, and San Jose detectives found the texts and identified the recipient. Police said she’s a woman who also lives in Tacoma, and they said she has access to children as either a caregiver or babysitter.

Seattle police have an Internet Crimes Against Children unit, so a detective from SPD was assigned to the case and found the woman living in a Tacoma home with her ex-husband, his new wife and three children. She was arrested.

Police said no charges have been filed yet pending the completion of the investigation.