Columbus man arrested for having sex with 13-year-old he used to babysit, police say

A 25-year-old Columbus man and a 13-year-old girl had a sexual relationship and sent over 150 messages to each other over the course of two months, police testified Thursday in Recorder’s Court.

Charles Boston was arrested Feb. 26 on one count of child molestation, one count of indecent exposure to a child and one count of possession of child pornography.

Police began investigating the case after the victim was taken to a medical facility by her mother, where she later tested positive for chlamydia, Detective Ryan Vardman said. The mother took the victim to the facility after finding sexual text messages between Boston and the girl over Facebook Messenger.

Boston used to babysit the victim when he was in a relationship with a member of her family. Nothing occurred between the victim and Boston until after the relationship ended, Vardman said.

The girl and Boston began exchanging messages on July 19, 2019. The first message was a question from the victim: “Why did you leave me hickeys when I told you not to?,” according to Vardman. Other exchanges included sexual pictures and messages.

Vardman testified that Boston and the victim talked almost daily over Facebook between July 19, 2019 and Sept. 21, 2019, and also video chatted naked on more than one occasion. Both also sent messages declaring their love for each other.

“Mr. Boston was smart,” Vardman said. “Whenever she would send something, especially sexually explicit in nature, he wouldn’t respond back. He would call her.”

After the victim’s mother notified police, Boston tried to make contact with the victim several times.

During a forensics interview, the victim told police that she and Boston had sex in his car multiple times and that he told her to send nude photos of herself. In a later police interview, according to Vardman, Boston said that he was only Facebook friends with the victim and never messaged her. He said that any messages sent by him were because his account was hacked.

When Vardman came back into the interrogation room with over 40 pages of Facebook records, Boston admitted that they talked one time but did not say anything about a sexual relationship.

Boston was eventually allowed to leave the Public Safety Building since he came in for an interview and was not facing charges at the time.

After further investigation, Vardman issued warrants for Boston’s arrest. Police tried to get him to come to the police station on Feb. 19, but he did not show up.

On Feb. 20, police attempted to arrest Boston at his place of work in West Point, but he escaped from the building and eluded capture by police. Six days later, after tracking Boston’s GPS signal on his phone and other methods, Boston was arrested at his current girlfriend’s residence. Officers found him hidden in a closet.

Judge Julius Hunter bound the case over to Muscogee Superior Court and did not set a bond due to the nature of the charges.

This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 12:35 PM.