Cobb teen accused of using Facebook to lure 13-year-old

SMYRNA, Ga. — A Cobb County teen will likely spend Christmas in jail after police said he picked up an underage girl on the Internet and enticed her to his apartment.

Like many young adults, Jenri Gomez, 18, is all over social media. Channel 2's Ross Cavitt found several accounts where he lists one of his goals is to meet women.

Police said he linked up with one in Gwinnett County girl on Facebook and encouraged her to travel across the metro to meet him at his apartment in the Smyrna Apartment complex. They had sex in the building, often in the complex's laundry room.

The problem was the girl was only 13 years old, which landed Gomez in jail without bond. Gomez's family told Cavitt the girl claimed to be much older.

"She said she was 16," the family member told Cavitt, asking not to be identified.

"Even if she were to actually lie about her age and he didn't know it, he still violated the law, if the facts are true," said attorney Phil Holloway.

Holloway has defended similar cases and told Cavitt that Georgia law puts it squarely on the defendant to know the age of the person he's having sex with.

In another recent case a Paulding County 19-year-old is serving a 10-year prison sentence at the Hays State Prison after an online meeting led to sex with what turned out to be a 12-year-old girl.

Holloway said the internet and social media sites leave clear trails for investigators to follow and when it comes to matters of the heart its best to stay offline.

"All you have is who they say they are and what the truth of the matter is they could be someone like an undercover officer or they could be somebody lying about their age and you really are taking a gamble if you meet someone for romantic purposes over the internet," Holloway said.

WSBTV