Professor Promised Chocolate Bar and Ariel Doll to Rape 7 Year Old Girl

Rod Githens, professor at University of the Pacific in California has been arrested after attempting to meet up with a man–an undercover FBI agent–and his 7 year old fictitious niece on a dating app.

Githens communicated with the FBI agent for nearly a month after they matched on the Grindr app, which used the hashtags “dirty,” “discreet,” “curious,” and “parent.” Githens found the profile in late March by searching “parent” in the app, per People.

The conversation between Githens and the FBI agent was moved to Telegram, an encrypted messaging app, where the FBI agent claimed he had a 7 year old niece that he’s been sexually active with. 

Law and Crime reports that during a later conversation when the two discussed setting up a date so Githens could rape the purported victim, he promised to bring the fictitious 7 year old “her favorite chocolate bar” and an Ariel doll from the Disney movie “The Little Mermaid.”

Githens is also reported to have called children “property” and revealed how he’s attempted to rape other young children in the past, including a planned trip to Hawaii to meet with a man who agreed to let him have sexual interactions with his 1 year old godson, but Githens claimed due to COVID-19, the trip never happened.

The West Sacramento Police Department worked with the FBI to arrest Githens by contacting him and telling him that they’d found packages he had previously reported stolen, and that he needed to come to the police station to pick them up. Once Githens began the drive, he was pulled over and arrested on April 19, where authorities questioned him and reviewed the data on his phone, including the Telegram app and his message history with the FBI agent.

Githens faces charges of “receipt and distribution of images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” and up to 20 years in prison.