A man from the United Kingdom has been arrested on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a child after he traveled to America allegedly to visit a Jefferson County girl he met on the Internet.
Police arrested 36-year-old Rick Noble in Atlanta on Aug. 24. Jefferson County officials say he was on his way to Denver when he was arrested.
The reason for his travel, officials say, was a 16-year-old girl from Jefferson County he met online. Noble had been communicating with the girl for about a year and had helped arrange for a passport and buy an airline ticket for her to go to England in August, according to an arrest affidavit.
The two had exchanged sexually explicit pictures of themselves, according to the affidavit. Noble told a district attorney’s investigator he knew the girl was only 16 and that the two sometimes talked online 14 to 15 hours a day, according to the affidavit. Noble told the investigator they were in love.
Authorities began investigating Noble on Aug. 1, when the 16-year-old’s mother contacted police after finding a passport and an airline ticket to England for Aug. 7. Investigators took a laptop computer and four different cell phones from the girl, then District Attorney’s investigator Michael Harris contacted Noble.
According to the affidavit, Harris repeatedly told Noble that what he had done was wrong and not to try to contact the 16-year-old again. But Harris also gained Noble’s trust through friendly gestures.
In mid-August, Harris tricked Noble into coming to America by falsely telling him that the 16-year-old was depressed and not eating in a residential treatment facility. Noble told Harris that he thought he could help if he could see the girl, and Harris said the girl’s mother said it would be OK for Noble to come visit the girl, according to the affidavit. Harris even offered to let Noble stay at his house.
But, when Noble landed in Atlanta on Aug. 24, police arrested him on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a child, attempted kidnapping and promotion of obscenity to a minor.
He made his first appearance today in Jefferson County Court and is scheduled for another court appearance on Thursday. He is currently being held on a $250,000 bond.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
