Amsterdam families speak about sexual abuse arrest
AMSTERDAM — A mother was shocked after seeing nude photos of her 7-year-old on the girl’s phone.
Her husband spotted the pictures when he was checking it.
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Police say 26-year-old Anthony Ropas solicited nude pictures from a child.
We are not identifying family members to protect the identity of the children.
“And he went through it, that’s when he saw a picture of her privates and gave me the phone. I scrolled down a little bit more and I saw the video of the girls in the shower together and I started flipping out,” said the mother.
She says family friend Ropas sent pictures back to the little girl, too.
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“After I called his phone, I scrolled up more and there was his privates, sending it to my daughter. And there were conversations like ‘delete the messages,’ ‘stop texting me right now, you’re going to get me in trouble.'”
Police say an Amsterdam man was soliciting nude photos from a child. The outraged parents say the girls are just 7 and 4 years old.
She said he also touched the child inappropriately.
Ropas is now facing charges including disseminating indecent material to minors, sexual abuse and coercion.
“She told the examiner that he told her that if she didn’t send the pictures, he was going to burn our house down,” said the 7-year-old’s mother, starting to cry. “And she felt like she was protecting us by doing it. He completely manipulated my daughter.”
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“My daughter was hurt, too,” said the mother of a 4-year-old girl.
She says her daughter should be acknowledged as a victim too, and that the charges should involve both children.
“He still has seen my daughter’s naked body. He still did whatever he did with those photos,” she said. “Having the photos of my daughter in his phone should be enough.”
“I’m glad we caught it in time before anything else could happen because at this point, God knows what would have happened to my child,” said the 7-year-old’s mother.
“He is the lowest of people. For him to do this to a 7and a 4-year-old is absolutely disgusting,” said the younger girl’s mother. “I want people to know that this is no 16, 17-year-old girl, even though that’s disgusting too. No, this is a 7-year-old, and this is a 4-year-old, and this is an awful thing to go through as a parent.”
We’re told that both girls are getting counseling.
Ropas is being held in jail on $25,000 cash bail.