News Nearby: Man Accused of Sending Explicit Photo, Texts to Meadowcreek Student

A Norcross man was arrested earlier this month in connection to sending explicit messages via cell phone to a Meadowcreek High student last June.

According to the Gwinnett County Police docket book, Jose Rocha-Mata was arrested Feb. 7 on charges of child molestation, terroristic threats and acts, and hold for immigration.

In the child molestation incident, the parents of a 14-year-old girl living in Tucker reported to police that Rocha-Mata had sent multiple sexual text messages and a photo of his penis that were intended for their daughter, who attends Meadowcreek. The messages were written in Spanish and sent to the mom's cell phone, but the girl's name was included in the messages.

The Meadowcreek High student had been holding onto the phone during the day and the evening when the communication started. The daughter didn't reply to the man and instead showed her mother the messages the following morning, and they called police.

The mother and stepfather said they and Rocha-Mata regularly attend the same Tucker church, El Buen Samaritano off Pleasantdale Road near Interstate 85.

They directed police to an apartment in Norcross where Rocha-Mata apparently rents a room from the church's pastor. When police arrived, they spoke to the pastor, but the suspect was not home, according to the report.

Eight months later, Rocha-Mata was arrested by the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office.

Inside the Police Reports runs regularly every week. The information is based solely on police incident reports provided on request.