Highland Co. man accused of trying to buy young girl on Facebook Messenger

By Courtney King | April 14, 2021 at 9:19 PM EDT – Updated April 14 at 10:30 PM HILLSBORO, Ohio (FOX19) – A Tri-State man is accused of trying to buy a child over the internet in what Sheriff Donnie Barrera says is Highland County’s very first human trafficking case. James McCartney used Facebook Messenger in an attempt to purchase a young girl so he could sexually assault her, Barrera says. “Pretty bizarre the way it all unfolded. It was very urgent,” Barrera said of McCartney’s attempt. Barrera explains McCartney messaged a female acquaintance asking if he could buy a little girl she knew. “The person who reported it to us was very upset, angry, mad… willing to go above and beyond to do whatever she could to help us,” Barrera said. Court documents say McCartney went into disturbing sexual detail about what he has done to young girls and what he would like to do. The document says he wanted a girl between the ages of 2 and 11. “The fact that he was so brazen about telling the person, his acquaintance, all the details of what he’s done in the past and what he was planning to do…
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