Raymond Oscar Harlen, 20, is currently booked into the Miller County Detention Center in Arkansas following his arrest in Johnston County, Texas. Harlen faces a long list of felony charges, including sexual grooming of a child, sexual indecency with a child, sexual extortion, grooming a minor for future sex trafficking, first-degree terroristic threatening, and the unlawful use of a communication device.
The investigation began on May 18 when a mother contacted the Miller County Sheriff’s Office. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Texarkana Gazette, the mother discovered an unknown man was sending explicit text messages to her 10-year-old daughter’s personal cellphone.
Investigators later learned the contact had actually started a week earlier when Harlen allegedly interacted with the girl by leaving comments on her TikTok posts before moving the conversation over to private text messages.
During their initial chats, the girl told Harlen she was 13 years old, but authorities say he continued to message her anyway. According to the charging documents, Harlen sent the victim a photograph of his face to show her who he was.
As the texting continued, the two began playing a game of truth or dare, which law enforcement says led to the messages becoming sexually explicit. The affidavit states Harlen sent a non-explicit photo of himself to pressure the young girl into sending an explicit image of herself in return.
The situation escalated after the girl chose to block Harlen’s phone number. Authorities say Harlen quickly switched to a secondary phone number to text her again, demanding that she unblock his original line.
The girl refused to comply, texting back: “Why do you want me to unblock that number, cause I’m not and don’t call me.”
Following that rejection, Harlen allegedly sent the child a 12-second video clip showing someone holding a Glock-style handgun. In the background of the video, several other firearms were visible on a table. He also allegedly sent a photograph of someone flashing a middle finger at the camera with a gun visible nearby.
Along with the visual threats, Harlen allegedly sent a text message stating: “Bet. You won’t be exeting [sic] me buddy. I already found ya’ll matter of time when yall [sic] hear these guns blast through your house.”
The sheriff’s office noted that several more text exchanges followed, including a discussion about her age during which Harlen offered to send the victim money.
A detective assigned to the case managed to trace the text communication back to Harlen’s phone numbers. When investigators pulled Harlen’s official driver’s license data, they confirmed that his license photo matched the self-portrait he had previously sent to the victim.
Texas authorities arrested Harlen on June 17. He was subsequently extradited across state lines to Miller County, Arkansas, where he remains in custody.
READ: Guns, Threats, And Captivity: Brandon Teen On Probation Arrested In Violent Dating Abuse Case
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