Hildreth

A man was arrested Saturday and charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and grooming, among other offenses, after allegedly texting inappropriately with a female victim.

According to an arrest report, Christopher Michael Hildreth, 35, “knowingly and willingly used written communication to attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child to commit an unlawful sex act or to otherwise engage in unlawful sexual conduct” at a residence in Marshalltown.

The complaint says Hildreth, who is listed as homeless, sent the victim several messages via phone, prompting the victim to send photos of herself committing “explicit acts.”

“The defendant admitted to sending messages to the victim but denied they were sexual in nature. The victim provided her cellular device with the messages on it. The messages were photographed,” the report said.

Hildreth was arrested and transported to the Marshall County Jail. He stands charged with a total of five offenses: Sexual exploitation of a minor — cause to engage in act, a Class B felony, enticing a minor under 16 — sexual purpose and grooming, both Class D felonies, possession of a controlled substance second offense and invasion of privacy, both aggravated misdemeanors.

As of Monday afternoon, he was being held at the jail on a bond totaling $39,000 for all of the offenses, and a pretrial conference is scheduled for Sept. 17 at 9:30 a.m.