According to Rhonda Hinkle, a supervisor with Muskingum County Children's Services, the girl is a rare case, but her office sees many investigations into alleged sex crimes with juvenile offenders. The crimes range from rape, gross sexual imposition, sexual imposition, pornography and even ‘sexting’ – forwarding lewd images on cell phones.

“I think a lot of it has to do with society today,” Hinkle said. “We have so many blended families today, we have all the technology that children at young ages are allowed access to and we have entirely different sets of values and issues than ever before.”

John Shaffer, court director for the Muskingum County Juvenile Court system, said most of the offenders he has seen in the court system have lower IQs. Their victims usually are younger children in the same home.

“It's not that they're out stalking younger children,” Shaffer said. “They're already in a situation where they find children they can take advantage of.”

Hinkle said she has seen cases where children as young as 10 or 11 are having consensual sex.

“One of the biggest problems is not knowing where your child is and who your child is with,” she said.

Detective Ritchason said, “Young kids are being exposed to things today through technology and lifestyles that they really shouldn't be.”