12-yr-old flies to have sex with gamer

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - It started when they met playing an online video game; it ended after police say he paid to fly the child nearly a thousand miles to have sex.

The girl's mother told News 13 that she's been trying to get 18-year-old Alex Trowell away from her daughter for eight months.

“Shock, you know I don't know how else you can, just shocked,” Trowell’s neighbor Raymond Mondrosenthal said in Idaho.

Alex Trowell first contacted the girl last summer while they were both playing the online video game, "World of Warcraft".

Trowell told police what started as casual conversation eventually turned into sexting and plans to meet.

Trowell said he drove from his home in Nampa Idaho, near Boise, on New Year's Day to New Mexico to see the girl. Someone tipped off Albuquerque police, and an APD officer called Trowell as he was passing through Farmington, and told him to turn around. He did but he didn't give up.

When he found out she could fly on United Airlines without parental consent, he got her a ticket to Idaho last week.

“This is a classic example you know, 12-years-old and 18, you think he would know better,” said Mondrosenthal.

The girl's mother tipped off police that the middle schooler was probably with Trowell. Nampa police said they caught the two as they were about to get into the shower together. The pair hadn't had sex, but had fooled around.

The girl's mom wouldn't talk on camera, but told News 13 she would advise other parents to keep their kids off the Internet until 16 and not allow them to have unrestricted cell phone use.

Bernalillo County Detective Amy Dudewicz said whatever rules parents make, they need to remember, they can say no.

“Cell phone bills are paid by most parents, Internet usage is provided by most parents, gaming systems are provided by the parents, you should decide when and were your kids can use those.”

The girl's mother said her daughter is in a safe house. Trowell is in jail on a no bond hold. He faces charges for enticing a minor, lewd contact, and kidnapping.

Trowell and the girl had a plan to live in an abandoned house next to his grandparents home, where he lives. He said they planned to marry in six years when she turned 18.

 For more information on how to protect your child online click here .